Man Found Guilty of Transporting Nearly 600 Pounds of Marijuana Inside Semi-Tractor Trailer

PHOENIX – Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced a jury found 63-year-old Alphonso Taylor guilty of Conspiracy, Illegally Conducting an Enterprise, and Transportation of Marijuana for Sale.

 

In June 2013, detectives and agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) West Valley Task Force initiated this investigation when they overheard Taylor’s phone conversation in a convenience store about working with an outlaw motorcycle gang.  During the investigation that followed, agents observed Taylor driving a semi-tractor and trailer and worked with troopers from the Arizona Department of Public Safety to conduct a traffic stop.  After a search of the trailer, troopers discovered 13 duffel bags which held 25 bundles of marijuana inside the trailer.  The total weight of the marijuana seized was 594 pounds.

 

State charges were formally filed against Taylor in 2013, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.  Taylor attended his trial in July 2018, but failed to appear for the reading of the guilty verdict last week.  He was quickly located and apprehended in the Detroit metro area by DEA agents from the Detroit Field Division and Detroit-area law enforcement.  Taylor is currently awaiting extradition proceedings, where upon his return to Arizona, he will be sentenced.

 

This investigation was conducted jointly by the DEA and Glendale Police Department, and supported by Peoria Police Department, Surprise Police Department, Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, and Arizona Department of Public Safety. 

 

Assistant Attorney General Nick Saccone prosecuted this case.