Border Patrol agents find wheelbarrow filled with pot

RIO GRANDE CITY - Maybe they should have tried harvesting the sorghum instead.

U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested three men Thursday afternoon after they said they saw them pushing a wheelbarrow full of marijuana from the Rio Grande near La Grulla.

When the agents approached the men about 3:30 p.m. Thursday, they bailed on their load and fled into nearby brush, agents said in a statement. Agents searched the area and took three men into custody.

The 20 bricks of marijuana inside the wheelbarrow weighed about 223 pounds and carried an estimated value of $178,400, agents said. A photo of the wheelbarrow taken by agents at the scene shows the load standing beside a sorghum field.

The drugs were turned over to the Starr County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task force.

To report suspicious activity, contact the Border Patrol's Rio Grande Valley sector at 1-800-863-9382.