Crime & Safety

Peoria Man Arrested In Record 362-Pound, $4.1M Meth Haul

Marius Montez Mason, 38, of Peoria, Illinois, was arrested Friday when Arizona police seized a record $4.1 million, 362 pounds of meth.

A husband-and-wife team from Illinois and Iowa were arrested on drug charges after their vehicle was stopped by an Arizona trooper.
A husband-and-wife team from Illinois and Iowa were arrested on drug charges after their vehicle was stopped by an Arizona trooper. (Arizona Department of Public Safety handout photo)

LITTLEFIELD, AZ — Arizona authorities seized a record 362 pounds of methamphetamine with an estimated street value of about $4.1 million in a traffic stop Friday, the state Department of Public Safety said Monday.

A husband-and-wife team — Marius Montez Mason, 38, of Peoria, Illinois, and Julie Jeannie Mason, 52, of Burlington, Iowa — were arrested and face charges of possession of a dangerous drug and transportation of a dangerous drug. They are in police custody in Mesquite, Nevada.

A state trooper stopped their vehicle on Interstate 15 just south of Littleton and requested assistance from the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office, the release said.

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The meth seizure was the largest in the state’s history, authorities said.


Julie Jeannie Mason, 52, of Burlington, Iowa, left, and Marius Montez Mason, 38, of Peoria, Illinois, were arrested Friday in what Arizona authorities called the largest methamphetamine bust in the state's history. (Arizona Department of Public Safety handout photos)

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