Ambulance Drug Smugglers

Between 800 to 1,000 pounds of drugs found

SALINENO - When Zapata County Sheriff's deputies tried to stop the ambulance belonging to Vitaline near Zapata, the driver sped to Salineno in Starr County and escaped on foot.

Inside the ambulance, officers found between 800 and 1,000 pounds of Marijuana.

The Zapata Sheriff's Office says this isn't the first time he's seen someone use an emergency vehicle as a smuggling device.

"We've heard about ambulance companies using ambulances to transport narcotics through this area, and all of South Texas. It's hard to stop an ambulance and determine if they have narcotics... and aren't transporting someone in an emergency," says Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez Jr.

NEWSCHANNEL 5 did speak to the Vitaline Ambulance Company by phone. The manager says the vehicle in question was reported stolen. Vitaline plans to fully cooperate with the investigation.