Pubdate: Tue, 13 Mar 2001
Source: Chicago Sun-Times (IL)
Copyright: 2001 The Sun-Times Co.
Contact:  401 N. Wabash, Chicago IL 60611
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Website: http://www.suntimes.com/
Author: Dan Rozek, Suburban Reporter

ON A HUNCH, POLICE FIND A TRUCKLOAD OF MARIJUANA

To police prowling for drug traffickers, the maroon-and-silver 18-wheeler 
looked out of place parked in a Pace commuter lot near Bolingbrook.

That casual observation prompted a search that eventually yielded an almost 
unimaginable jackpot: Seven tons of marijuana worth $20 million carefully 
boxed up in the semi's refrigerated trailer.

On Monday Illinois State Police, in announcing the weekend seizure, said 
it's the largest stash of marijuana ever confiscated by authorities outside 
a border area.

"This is a great day. We're talking about $20 million worth of dope that 
won't go on to the street and affect our community," said Col. Dan Kent, 
state police deputy director.

The drugs were painstakingly wrapped in plastic sheeting and tucked inside 
175 cardboard boxes, police said. The boxes, stacked seven feet high, 
virtually filled the 48-foot-long trailer.

The marijuana apparently was being shipped from Mexico to Chicago when it 
was uncovered by investigators from a state police-led anti-drug task force.

Three officers on patrol Friday in the Bolingbrook area noticed the truck 
parked in a Pace Park-N-Ride lot near Interstate 55 and Route 53. The 
officers became suspicious because usually only cars and minivans use the 
lot, particularly since there is a truck stop next door that typically is 
filled with big rigs.

"This vehicle was sitting all by itself in a commuter parking lot. It just 
seemed odd," said Illinois State Police Lt. Carl Dobrich, commander of the 
Narcotics and Currency Interdiction Team.

The anti-drug task force is composed of officers from a number of agencies, 
including the Chicago, Bolingbrook, Waukegan, Matteson, Dolton and Round 
Lake police departments.

A police dog called in to sniff for narcotics circled the truck and quickly 
signaled that drugs were inside, Dobrich said. The dog wasn't fooled by two 
pallets of jalapeno peppers stacked near the trailers' doors, police said.

"It may throw off humans, it won't throw off a dog," said Romeoville Police 
Officer John Ferdinardo, whose dog, Rocco, detected the drugs.

While police have not found the driver, the semi was registered to a Dallas 
company, state police said. Investigators also are looking at a Chicago 
storage company listed on a document found in the vehicle, Dobrich said.
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