A 40-year-old Hutchinson man arrested back on February 27 for allegedly having a large quantity of marijuana is apparently facing federal charges after he was arrested earlier this month in New Mexico with a fairly large quantity of marijuana.

According to Deputy District Attorney Tom Stanton, Edmund Cantu was stopped by the border patrol and they discovered 50-pounds of marijuana. “That’s a small amount of pot,” says Stanton in comparison to some of the bust here in Reno County, including the most recent arrest where 130-pounds were discovered.

But, there have been others over the years where as much as 230-pounds were found on him. Cantu did serve about 5-years in federal prison for some of those cases that go back to 2004. The Kansas Department of Corrections also shows a conviction for drugs going back to 2000.

He currently faces charges of possession of marijuana with intent to sell, possession of cocaine and no drug tax stamp.

He was able to post the bond of 150-thousand dollars and was scheduled for a pre-trial hearing back on August 17. It was then that Stanton learned he may be in federal custody. There is now a 500-thousand dollar bond for his arrest in the Reno County case, however Stanton tells us this case may now also go to the feds.

The case starts when his SUV was stopped back on February 27 in the 1100 block of U-S 50 Highway. Inside the vehicle were three bags of approximately 130-pounds of marijuana, individually package in one pound brick form. Each was wrapped in balloons, then wrapped in plastic tape. Also, on the center console of the vehicle, in a cup was a white powder that tested positive for cocaine.

In any case, the current Reno County case is on hold for the time being.