Cops: Pair caught with $4M in marijuana
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/...with-4m-in-marijuana-20110314,0,2203828.story
An Elgin man and a California woman remained in the Kane County jail today after being arrested over the weekend with 230 pounds of marijuana in their van, authorities said.
Xaisana Thammavong, 45, of the 200 block of Liberty Street in Elgin, and Xom M. Vongsaly, 58, of Fresno, Calif., were each being held in lieu of $10 million bail, which was set after drug trafficking charges were filed against them, according to Kane County sheriff’s police.
The marijuana has a street value of about $4 million, police said.
They were stopped around 11:30 a.m. Saturday on westbound Interstate 90 near the U.S. Route 20 exit in Hampshire Township, according to police. An officer noted the van, which had an Arizona license plate, was only going around 35 miles per hour and said the driver appeared as if he were trying to lean back in his seat when the officer pulled alongside.
After the stop, the driver and his woman passenger switched places, and police determined that the man’s license had been revoked, according to the report. A check indicated that Thammavong was wanted by the Elgin police for failing to register as a sex offender.
After a search turned up the drugs, Thammavong and Vongsaly were taken into custody and charged with one count each of cannabis trafficking, and delivery and possession of more than 5,000 grams of cannabis. The most serious charge is a Class X felony, punishable by six to 30 years in prison.
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2 Fla. men charged with smuggling pot
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/...ed-with-potsmuggling-20110315,0,6914695.story
Two Florida men have been charged with smuggling more than $5 million worth of marijuana after Cook County sheriff’s police pulled over a semi-trailer truck in Mount Prospect and discovered the drugs hidden in a load of carrots.
Abraham Garcia-Acosta, 44, and Diego Diaz-Perez, 49, are each charged with possessing more than 1,000 pounds of marijuana following their arrest Monday at a Days Inn on Higgins Road.
Prosecutors said sheriff’s police were watching a suspicious rental car with Florida license plates and followed it from the Days Inn to a parking lot in Elk Grove Village. Both defendants were then seen getting into a semi-trailer truck.
Police pulled the truck over after it returned to the Days Inn and questioned Garcia-Acosta, who was driving.
“The defendant made conflicting statements about the load in the semi,” Assistant State’s Attorney Kilby Macfadden said in court. Garcia-Acosta gave consent to search the truck, and police found 80 packages of marijuana with a street value of $5.3 million hidden among boxes of carrots, she said.
Both defendants are Mexico natives who have been living in Florida for a decade, according to their court-appointed attorney.
Judge Ramon Ocasio III set a $15,000 cash bond for each.
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http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/...with-4m-in-marijuana-20110314,0,2203828.story
An Elgin man and a California woman remained in the Kane County jail today after being arrested over the weekend with 230 pounds of marijuana in their van, authorities said.
Xaisana Thammavong, 45, of the 200 block of Liberty Street in Elgin, and Xom M. Vongsaly, 58, of Fresno, Calif., were each being held in lieu of $10 million bail, which was set after drug trafficking charges were filed against them, according to Kane County sheriff’s police.
The marijuana has a street value of about $4 million, police said.
They were stopped around 11:30 a.m. Saturday on westbound Interstate 90 near the U.S. Route 20 exit in Hampshire Township, according to police. An officer noted the van, which had an Arizona license plate, was only going around 35 miles per hour and said the driver appeared as if he were trying to lean back in his seat when the officer pulled alongside.
After the stop, the driver and his woman passenger switched places, and police determined that the man’s license had been revoked, according to the report. A check indicated that Thammavong was wanted by the Elgin police for failing to register as a sex offender.
After a search turned up the drugs, Thammavong and Vongsaly were taken into custody and charged with one count each of cannabis trafficking, and delivery and possession of more than 5,000 grams of cannabis. The most serious charge is a Class X felony, punishable by six to 30 years in prison.
----------
now read this
2 Fla. men charged with smuggling pot
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/...ed-with-potsmuggling-20110315,0,6914695.story
Two Florida men have been charged with smuggling more than $5 million worth of marijuana after Cook County sheriff’s police pulled over a semi-trailer truck in Mount Prospect and discovered the drugs hidden in a load of carrots.
Abraham Garcia-Acosta, 44, and Diego Diaz-Perez, 49, are each charged with possessing more than 1,000 pounds of marijuana following their arrest Monday at a Days Inn on Higgins Road.
Prosecutors said sheriff’s police were watching a suspicious rental car with Florida license plates and followed it from the Days Inn to a parking lot in Elk Grove Village. Both defendants were then seen getting into a semi-trailer truck.
Police pulled the truck over after it returned to the Days Inn and questioned Garcia-Acosta, who was driving.
“The defendant made conflicting statements about the load in the semi,” Assistant State’s Attorney Kilby Macfadden said in court. Garcia-Acosta gave consent to search the truck, and police found 80 packages of marijuana with a street value of $5.3 million hidden among boxes of carrots, she said.
Both defendants are Mexico natives who have been living in Florida for a decade, according to their court-appointed attorney.
Judge Ramon Ocasio III set a $15,000 cash bond for each.
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