Tijuana -
The marijuana seized in Mexico's biggest bust ever weighed in at 134 tons on Tuesday, nearly 30 tons more than initially reported, authorities said.
Mexican security forces made the massive seizure on Monday after a shootout with traffickers, 11 of whom were arrested, officials said.
“It totalled 134 tons. Yesterday it was estimated to be 105 tons, but the official weighing has now been concluded,” Tijuana municipal police chief Gustavo Herrera told AFP.
A source with the Mexican attorney general's office also confirmed that the seized marijuana weighed 134 tons.
Some 15 300 packets of marijuana were counted, up from 10 000, a day after the drugs were found during raids on several houses in the border city of Tijuana following a shootout, security spokesman Alejandro Poire told a news conference.
“This is the largest seizure in the country's history of marijuana prepared and packed for sale and distribution,” Poire said.
“There are signs that (the drugs) are linked to the Pacific organisation,” Poire said, referring to another name for the Sinaloa gang led by Mexico's most-wanted fugitive, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
In announcing the capture on Monday, General Alfonso Duarte said the drugs were worth about $335 million on the Mexican street, but their value could double or triple if sold in the United States.
The seizure was a coup for Mexico's President Felipe Calderon whose use of the military to crack down on the country's drug cartels has been accompanied by soaring drug violence blamed for 28 000 deaths since 2006.
Across the border, residents of the US state of California are due to vote on November 2 on a referendum over whether to legalise marijuana for recreational use. - Sapa-AFP