Two men were arrested Monday on drug charges after the tractor-trailer they were in was stopped by Illinois State Police for a safety inspection. The occupants of the vehicle gave police permission to search their truck after they were stopped on Interstate 55-70 near mile marker 15, said Joe Beliveau, commander of the Metropolitan Enforcement Group of Southern Illinois.

During the search of the truck, which was loaded with tomatoes and bound for Maryland, ISP troopers uncovered nearly 600 pounds of marijuana. Beliveau said. Charged in the case were Jose A. Martinez, 25, from Glendale, Ariz., and Manuel Medrano, 26, of Merced, Calif.

Martinez and Medrana both were charged by the Madison County state's attorney's office with unlawful possession of marijuana trafficking and unlawful possession of marijuana with intent to deliver. Both men are being held at the Madison County jail with bail set at $150,000 for each of them, Beliveau said.