GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo. -- An alert Greenwood Village police officer is credited with a large marijuana bust after noticing a suspicious vehicle parking in a handicapped spot at a local motel.

The unidentified officer saw the parked vehicle Wednesday evening and talked to two females in the car. While talking to them, he noticed that the steering column had been damaged.

The officer called in the license plate and it came back as stolen out of New Mexico, police said. When he took the two females into custody for auto theft, he said one of them mentioned there were drugs in the vehicle.

A K-9 unit from Arapahoe County uncovered 265 pounds of marijuana in the car, with a street value of $525,000, police said.

Sonja Aguirre, 18, and a juvenile female were arrested and face several charges.