Border Patrol stops hearse carrying pot-filled coffin

May 1 (UPI) -- Customs officials in Arizona said a white hearse traveling near Tombstone was found to be carrying a casket filled with 67 pounds of marijuana.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Willcox Border Patrol Agents assigned to the State Route 80 Immigration Checkpoint spotted the white hearse north of Tombstone and they conducted an immigration vehicle stop at the intersection of Highway 90 and Highway 82.

A narcotics detection canine indicated the presence of illicit substances and a subsequent search of the hearse discovered the casket being carried inside did not contain human remains, but rather 67 pounds of marijuana -- worth more than $33,000 -- separated into bricks.

The Border Patrol agents said there were also several bags of manure inside the casket in an apparent attempt to disguise the marijuana smell.

The driver of the hearse, a 28-year-old American man, was arrested on narcotics-smuggling charges.