Last week, Arkansas State Troopers seized 1,987 pounds of illegal drugs made from marijuana.
In a statement, the Arkansas State Police said:
On Monday, November 17, 2025, at approximately 10:30 a.m., Arkansas State Police (ASP) Troopers conducted a traffic stop on a tractor-trailer near the 173-mile marker eastbound on Interstate 40 in Lonoke County, for a traffic violation.
During a search of the trailer, Troopers discovered four pallets of cardboard boxes containing 960 pounds of illegal marijuana, 1,000 pounds of THC products, and 27 pounds of synthetic marijuana.
Additionally, a firearm was located in the sleeper compartment of the cab.
Troopers arrested the driver, Tobias Xavier Taylor, 37, of Richmond, Virginia, and transported him to the Lonoke County Detention Center.
Taylor is facing multiple felony charges, including Trafficking a Controlled Substance, Simultaneous Possession of Drugs and Firearms, Unauthorized Use of Another Person’s Property to Facilitate Certain Crimes, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.
Contrary to popular belief, legalization has actually emboldened drug cartels and increased the flow of illegal marijuana products across the country. Arkansas State Police routinely confiscate marijuana grown in states where it is legal.
The U.S. Department of Justice has said organized crime from Mexico and China may be making millions of dollars from illegal marijuana in states like California, Maine, New York, and Massachusetts.
Some of these illegal marijuana operations are tied to labor trafficking, violent crime, and foreign adversaries like the Chinese Communist Party.
NPR has reported that illegal immigrants from China “are taking jobs at hundreds of cannabis farms springing up across the U.S.” Other correspondents have revealed how these illegal marijuana operations contribute to “modern day slavery on American soil.”
That’s one of the reasons Arkansans should think twice before voting to expand marijuana in the state.
All of this underscores what we have said for years: Marijuana may be many things, but “harmless” simply is not one of them.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
