Modesto-area men arrested after truck loaded with pot plants breaks down

Four Modesto-area men were arrested near Sonora on Wednesday after their pickup truck filled with with marijuana plants broke down, authorities said.

Tuolumne County sheriff’s Sgt. Deborah Moss said the men were hiding the plants in the brush along Jamestown Road near the Mother Lode Gun Club when they were approached by deputies.

A resident who saw them in the bushes at about 6:45 a.m. reported them as suspicious.

Deputies found five boxes containing several hundred immature marijuana plants in the brush that had been removed from the broken-down Chevrolet pickup, Moss said.

Lorenzo Alanis Jr., 42; Gregorio Jamie, 38; Gamaliel Rios, 27; and Victor Urena, 34, were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to transport and cultivate marijuana. Rios also was found to be in possession of methamphetamine and marijuana seeds, Moss said.

This story was originally published February 17, 2016 at 3:10 PM with the headline "Modesto-area men arrested after truck loaded with pot plants breaks down."