HUTCHINON, Kan. — A 42-year-old Hutchinson man arrested back on Feb. 27, 2012 for allegedly having a large quantity of marijuana is back in the Reno County Jail. He served time in federal prison after being caught with drugs in New Mexico.
Edmund Cantu was stopped by border patrol nearly two years ago and they discovered 50 pounds of marijuana.
He currently faces charges of possession of marijuana with intent to sell, possession of cocaine and no drug tax stamp here in Reno County, but Deputy District Attorney Tom Stanton says he needs to check to make sure he wasn’t prosecuted by the feds for the Reno County case as well.
He was able to post the bond of $150,000 and was scheduled for a pretrial hearing when Stanton learned he was in federal custody. He is back in the Reno County jail on a bond of $502,000 for the arrest in the Reno County case, however, Stanton tells us that if he was already prosecuted by the feds, he may dismiss the state charges.
The case started when his SUV was stopped in the 1100 block of US 50 Highway. Inside the vehicle were three bags of approximately 130 pounds of marijuana, individually packaged in one pound brick form. Each was wrapped in balloons, then wrapped in plastic tape. Also on the center console of the vehicle, in a cup, was a white powder that tested positive for cocaine.
The local case remains on hold at the moment until it’s determined what federal authorities have done with the local case.