Four Toronto-area men appeared in federal court Feb. 16, charged with transporting one of the largest loads of hydroponic marijuana ever seized in the western part of the state, the Buffalo News reported.

Authorities said the men were arrested after 1,277 pounds of marijuana, worth more than $2.5 million, was found in the trailer of a truck entering Buffalo at the Peace Bridge.

The truck’s driver, Shamus MacLeod, 29, along with Sing-Chahal Kirphal, Baljinder Kang and Havinderpal Singh – who allegedly planned to meet him at a Pembroke truck stop – were charged with conspiring to transport the drug.

Homeland Security agents arrested the men after a gamma ray-searching device called the VACIS (Vehicle and Cargo Inspection System) detected something suspicious inside the trailer.

MacLeod told agents he was working for an Ontario trucking firm when he picked up a preloaded trailer. He said he thought he was shipping framing materials. Authorities said MacLeod admitted that the pot found in the cab was his.