500 pounds of marijuana recovered on I-40

POPE COUNTY — A traffic stop on Interstate 40 led to the discovery of over 500 pounds of marijuana plus other illegal substances by the Arkansas State Police at approximately 4:20 p.m. on Sept. 9.

According to the arrest affidavit, Ismar Zubovic was arrested after authorities observed a van heading east on I-40 near mile marker 76 veer from the travel lane and onto the fog line. The officer initiated a traffic stop.

Authorities made contact with Zubovic, who was the only occupant inside the van. According to the affidavit, the officer noticed a faint smell of marijuana emitting from the van.

Zubovic, in a work van, allegedly said he was working.

The officer retrieved the bill of lading, but noted in the report a lot of information was vague. The officer asked what was being shipped, and Zubovic allegedly offered to show the officer, got out of the van and opened the rear door voluntarily.

Inside, was two wooden crates, which the officer asked to check out. Zubovic allegedly consented but the officer was unable to verify what was inside.

Ultimately, a K-9 was deployed, which alerted to the odor of narcotics on the rear portion of the van. The crates were fully opened and allegedly contained duffel bags and a large quantity of individual packaged suspected marijuana.

In all, there were 514 packages of suspected marijuana weighting over 500 pounds, plus two pounds of suspected mushrooms.

Zubovic appeared in felony bond hearings on Wednesday before District Judge Clayton McCall where his bond was set at $7,500 cash. A circuit

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court appearance is scheduled for today.

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UAEX: Francine timing ‘couldn’t be worse’ for

Arkansas crops

STUTTGART — With rice ready to harvest and cotton bolls open, Francine is set to hit Arkansas crops at the worst possible time.

“We never want to gripe about rain, but this timing couldn’t be worse,” said Zachary Treadway, extension cotton and peanut agronomist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. “We’ve got guys trying to get rice out, guys trying to get beans out, we’re trying to get cotton defoliated. It’s definitely not a good time for a tropical storm.”

Hurricane Francine barreled toward Louisiana on Thursday.

“The system is expected to continue towards the state bringing the chance for heavy rainfall, gusty winds, and possibly a few tornadoes tonight through Friday afternoon,” the National Weather Service at Little Rock said.

With cotton, Treadway’s main concerns stem from cotton plants being blown over.

“Bolls that come in close proximity with the soil are at risk for rot or hard lock,” Treadway said. “Plants that are blown over will straighten up some, but for those that get tangled up, this could take longer.”

Hard lock refers to cotton bolls that either will not open or open very little due to bacteria or fungus.

But the heavy winds aren’t the only issue. With most of Arkansas’ cotton bolls open, rain could threaten exposed cotton.

“If we have a lot of rain on open bolls, the cotton will fall out of the boll. Wet cotton almost looks like it’s dripping off the plant,” Treadway said.

“It can dry, but it lowers the cotton quality and makes it harder to pick.”

With cotton harvest around the corner, Treadway said the rain could also keep farmers out of the field when they were set to apply harvest aids, delaying harvest and lowering quality.

“The entire Delta, top to bottom is set to be on the western side of the eye, which is where we see the most rain,” said Jarrod Hardke, extension rice agronomist for the Division of Agriculture. “From a rainfall standpoint, the bulk of the concern is Wednesday night going into Thursday.”

With Arkansas rice on pace for its earliest crop since 2010, Hardke said the dry, mature plants are at their most vulnerable state right now.

“This is the exact kind of storm that is worst for rice that has been drained and is ready to harvest,” Hardke said. “We don’t have a lot of stalk integrity left. It’s a great thing we took advantage of that early planting window, we did the right thing, but as it goes we planted quicker than we can harvest, creating a bad recipe for those acres that are left.

“According to Monday’s Crop Progress Report, 56 percent of rice in Arkansas has been harvested, leaving almost half of the state’s crop still out in the field. For rice growers in the Delta, it will be a race to harvest what acres they can before Wednesday night. We’ll be pushing it on the early side of harvest for some fields. It’s really a game of prioritizing what needs to be harvested first.”

Hardke said high winds and excessive rain could cause lodging, broken panicles and delayed harvest – all coming at peak harvest season for this year’s rice crop.

“Two weeks ago, when plants were greener and not as dry, I wouldn’t have been as worried. Two weeks from now wouldn’t have been so bad,” Hardke said. “But with where our rice is now, I’m just hoping we get lucky and dodge most of it.”