Drug trafficking charges have been filed against a Florida man who was caught with 36 pounds of marijuana in his vehicle in Seminole County earlier this month.

Seneca DeCastro, Jr., 23, of Pinelles Park, Florida faces one count of trafficking in illegal drugs-marijuana, stemming from a traffic stop on I-40 by an Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics (OBN) Agent. The charge was filed Dec. 12 in Seminole County District Court.

According to an affidavit, on Dec. 3, OBN Agent Darin Morgan pulled DeCastro over for speeding on I-40 at mile marker 194. DeCastro presented Morgan with his Florida driver’s license, stating that the vehicle was a rental.

DeCastro told Morgan that he had flown from Florida to Phoenix, Arizona, to visit family and rented the car in the afternoon when he arrived on Dec. 1, but wanted to drive back to Florida.

“I was immediately suspicious of Decastro’s travel. Based on the timeline Castro wouldn’t have had time to visit family before immediately leaving,” Morgan wrote in his report.

Morgan said he called Task Force Officer Preston Hodge, who was already nearby, to scan Decastro’s vehicle with his certified drug detector dog, “Red.”

According to the affidavit, Hodge scanned the vehicle and Red detected the odor of narcotics in the vehicle. A search of the vehicle revealed two large trash sacks in the rear cargo area. The sacks contained a total of 36 vacuum sealed bundles of marijuana (approximately 36 pounds). Morgan also located personal use marijuana in the center console and marijuana paperwork typically used by legal marijuana transporters. The paperwork showed the marijuana was to go to a facility in California and did not have Decastro’s name on it.

DeCastro was booked into the Seminole County Jail but was released Dec. 6 following the posting of bail. Bond was set at $40,000, and Senecca DeCastro, Sr. posted a payment of $4,000. A status conference has been scheduled for Feb. 5.