Pima County sheriff's deputies arrested four people in Ajo on suspicion of smuggling marijuana.
Mashelle Womack, 39; Jesus Tereso De Lopez-Zavala, 34; and a 17-year-old boy are all facing charges of possession of marijuana for sale, transportation of marijuana for sale and possession of drug paraphernalia, said Deputy Tom Peine, a Sheriff's Department spokesman.
The teen's name was not released because he is a juvenile, Peine said.
Another woman, Kristy Ann Fejarang-Blake, 37, was arrested on suspicion of possession of dangerous drugs, Peine said in a news release.
Authorities arrested the suspects late Thursday after finding 25 bales of marijuana, weighing more than 430 pounds, inside a shed at an Ajo home. Ajo is about 100 miles west of Tucson.
The discovery came after a deputy made a traffic stop in front of the home. The deputy smelled marijuana in the car, reportedly driven by Womack, and called for additional deputies and a drug-sniffing dog.
The dog did not smell drugs in the car but alerted deputies to the fence line of a nearby house.
Deputies eventually searched a shed at the home and found the marijuana, along with an illegal immigrant identified as Lopez-Zavala.
Several people were inside the home, including a woman who had a small amount of methamphetamine, authorities said.
Womack, Fejarang-Blake and Lopez-Zavala were booked into Pima County jail. The 17-year-old was booked into the juvenile detention center.
Contact reporter Jamar Younger at jyounger@azstarnet.com or 573-4115.
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