Deputies seize 780 pounds of marijuana during traffic stop in Lake Los Angeles

Calling it the “WOW arrest of the month,” the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department announced the seizure of more than 780 pounds of marijuana during a routine traffic stop in Lake Los Angeles, authorities said Friday.

A deputy was patrolling the area near 240th Street East and Avenue J-8 on Thursday when he stopped a Ford F-150 towing a trailer that had a “very strong odor of marijuana coming from it,” the Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.

An image posted on the department’s Twitter feed appeared to show the marijuana piled high inside the two-wheeled trailer.

Two people inside the truck were arrested on suspicion of transporting marijuana, officials said.

Possession of small amounts of marijuana is legal in California, Ali Villalobos, a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s Lancaster station, said. But the transportation of the amount seized Thursday far exceeds the amount allowed for personal use.

“This was an unheard of amount for someone to be transporting and have in their private collection,” she said, noting that it “may very well be” a record amount of marijuana seized by the department.

Marijuana seizures in unincorporated areas are often accompanied by other crimes like trespassing and water theft, Villalobos said.

Detectives are still investigating the source of the marijuana, which will be turned over to the department’s narcotics division to be photographed and documented before being destroyed.

“We don’t dispute whether marijuana is safe or unsafe, or should be legal or illegal,” Villalobos said. “We just follow the law.”