Tijuana officials started burning 134 tons of marijuana, which the Mexican government said was the largest pot seizure in the nation’s history, on Wednesday, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The army and law enforcement officials held a press event for the burn.
Thousands of bricks of marijuana were dumped on top of a makeshift wooden platform on a Tijuana military base. The Times noted that the 10-feet-high and 100-feet-wide pile was doused with diesel fuel.
Amid trumpet and bugle corps playing in the background, an electrical charge was pressed, triggering gunpowder to explode beneath the stacks of marijuana bricks. The stash will take around two days for it to fully burn, the New York Times reports.
The 15,300 marijuana bricks were seized Monday by Baja California authorities in a warehouse near the border. Gen. Alfonso Duarte Mugica said that the pot has an estimated street value of $340 million.
“With these results, it is evidence once again that the strategy ... continues striking the operations and financial structure of the organized crime groups,” according to a statement by the Mexican military released to the LA Times.
The Sinaloa cartel, one of the largest and most dangerous organizations in Mexico, was believed to be the owner of the stash.
The army and law enforcement officials held a press event for the burn.
Thousands of bricks of marijuana were dumped on top of a makeshift wooden platform on a Tijuana military base. The Times noted that the 10-feet-high and 100-feet-wide pile was doused with diesel fuel.
Amid trumpet and bugle corps playing in the background, an electrical charge was pressed, triggering gunpowder to explode beneath the stacks of marijuana bricks. The stash will take around two days for it to fully burn, the New York Times reports.
The 15,300 marijuana bricks were seized Monday by Baja California authorities in a warehouse near the border. Gen. Alfonso Duarte Mugica said that the pot has an estimated street value of $340 million.
“With these results, it is evidence once again that the strategy ... continues striking the operations and financial structure of the organized crime groups,” according to a statement by the Mexican military released to the LA Times.
The Sinaloa cartel, one of the largest and most dangerous organizations in Mexico, was believed to be the owner of the stash.
