Nose Job Leads To Seizure of Pot ...

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Authorities followed their noses to nearly a ton of marijuana hidden in a Tucson stash house. Pima County sheriff's deputies were on a call about 6:30 a.m. Sunday when they smelled fresh marijuana coming from next door, said Deputy Dawn Barkman, a spokeswoman for the department.

The smell got stronger as they approached the house from where the odor was coming, she said.

The deputies contacted the Counter Narcotics Alliance, which obtained a search warrant for the house. When alliance officers entered the house, no one was there.

But they did find 1,835 pounds of marijuana in a room hidden behind a wall, Barkman said.

The house was "obviously a stash house" and had no furniture, she said. The false wall was removed to reveal a door to the room where the marijuana was stored.

The marijuana was taken as evidence.

This stash house was at least the eighth discovered in the Tucson area this year. Tucson is a key logistical point in the illegal drug business, investigators say. Shipments from Mexico make their way to Tucson, where they are stored and distributed to dealers in other cities and states.