ATHENS, Tenn. — State troopers Thursday seized about 600 pounds of marijuana during a traffic stop on Interstate 75 in McMinn County, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

Vincent G. Willis, 24, and passenger Maria Beaver, 23, both of Knoxville, are being held in the McMinn County Jail and are awaiting a bond hearing on drug charges, officials said.

Trooper John Allen Jr. found the marijuana stuffed inside a gray GMC Suburban at about 5 p.m. Thursday, according to a Tennessee Highway Patrol news release.

The trooper stopped the car for following a fuel tanker too closely at mile marker 45, about four miles south of Athens, Tenn., the statement said.

Blankets covered the 32 bales of pot that were wrapped in a rubber material, talcum powder and plastic wrap, officials said.

The marijuana has an estimated street value of $1 million, according to the Highway Patrol.

For complete details, see tomorrow’s Chattanooga Times Free Press.