Cops: Van carrying 117 lbs. pot stopped

Two men were busted Monday and charged with trafficking more than 100 pounds of marijuana in a rented van, authorities said.

Authorities first noticed the van when the men driving it decided to forego their turn signal and almost caused a crash on Military Trail in Delray Beach, according to an arrest report. A law enforcement agent with another organization had been watching the van and called the Palm Beach County Sheriff ’s Office for a traffic stop.

A Sheriff’s deputy pulled the van over at a gas station in the 4000 block of Atlantic Avenue and had the men get out, the arrest report says. That’s when the deputy noticed the smell of marijuana and saw a marijuana cigarette inside the car.

The agent who had called in for the traffic stop arrived and was immediately “overwhelmed by the odor of marijuana emanating from the van,” the report said.

Bryant Sepulveda, 29, of North Miami Beach, was driving the van alongside passenger Jonatan Lopez, 31, of Hollywood, according to authorities.

A drug-sniffing K-9 led investigators to the van’s rear cargo compartment, where vacuum-sealed bags containing clothing were found inside cardboard boxes, plastic storage containers and luggage. “Investigators counted 117 bags each containing approximately 1-pound of marijuana,” the arrest report said.

The lock screen of Sepulveda’s cellphone had a stream of incoming text messages, including one that read “Sorry I keep bothering you but I’m all out of flower,” which is a term for marijuana, investigators said.

Sepulveda asked for his attorney and wasn’t questioned.

Lopez admitted owning a backpack that was found in the van containing a ledger with handwritten notes denoting strains of marijuana, but denied knowing anything about the other items and their contents, the arrest report said.

During a first-appearance court hearing Tuesday, both men were ordered held at the Palm Beach County Jail on bonds of $25,000, records show.

Lopez

Sepulveda