NORTH COAST, Calif. – Three men – one of them from Lake County – were arrested last month in Mendocino County for transportation of marijuana for sale.

Cody Batchelor, 25, of St. Charles, Mo.; Martin Lopez, 19, of Hawthorne; and Francisco Villa, 30, of Kelseyville were arrested early on the morning of Jan. 10 in Ukiah, according to a report this week from Capt. Greg Van Patten of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.

Shortly before 2:30 a.m. Jan. 10 a Mendocino County Sheriff's deputy stopped a U-Haul truck bearing Arizona license plates in the 1300 block of South State Street for a vehicle code violation, Van Patten said.

Van Patten said that when the U-Haul stopped, a second vehicle – a Honda CRV bearing California plates – stopped and was believed to be a trailing vehicle.

Upon contacting the driver and passenger of the U-Haul, there was a strong odor of marijuana emitting from the storage compartment, according to Van Patten.

An additional deputy contacted Lopez, who was driving the Honda. Van Patten said there was a strong odor of marijuana emitting from the Honda as well.

The occupants of the U-Haul were found to be Batchelor, who was the driver, and Villa, the passenger, Van Patten said.

Van Patten said all three subjects were detained and both vehicles were searched.

The U-Haul contained approximately 50 pounds of processed marijuana, while Van Patten said the Honda contained paperwork connecting Lopez to the U-Haul and it also contained a small amount of marijuana.

All three subjects were booked into the Mendocino County Jail for suspicion of transporting marijuana for sale and were to be held in lieu of $50,000 bail each, Van Patten reported.