3 alleged drug trips halted along I-80 in Illinois
     By Ann McGlynn | Comments(0)

The smell of burning marijuana wafted from the Hyundai sport utility vehicle
parked along Interstate 80 in Henry County.

It was 7:03 a.m. Thursday and an Illinois State Police trooper had just
stopped the vehicle's driver for speeding. After writing a warning ticket,
the trooper searched the SUV and turned up $368,640 in cash, heat-sealed and
stored throughout vehicle.

Michael Deon Reese now faces a federal drug charge.

Reese's arrest is one of three in the past three weeks to result in federal
court charges. All of the charges stem from arrests made along I-80 in Henry
County.

Reese told federal law enforcement agents, court documents state, he had
been paid $5,000 to drive the money from Michigan to Arizona, where it would
be used to buy marijuana. The marijuana would then be driven back to
Michigan by someone else.

He began making the trips, six in all, during August. Each time, he was paid
$5,000. The amount of marijuana purchased, he said, filled six large duffel
bags.

Federal agents say in court documents that marijuana sells for between $300
and $500 a pound. The amount of money Reese had in the SUV would have bought
about 737 pounds.

A cracked windshield on the truck prompted trooper Clint Thulen to stop a
2005 Dodge pickup shortly after 1 p.m. Feb. 1.

The truck was from Utah. Inside was Robert Louis Moorman.

As the trooper wrote a warning ticket while stopped alongside I-80 in Henry
County, "Thulen noticed that Moorman seemed extremely nervous."

After telling Moorman he was free to go, Thulen asked the man whether he
would mind answering some questions.

Thulen denied having any marijuana and then consented to allowing a
specially trained dog to sniff around the truck. The dog "hit" on the back
of the truck. Thulen and Floyd Banks, a second trooper who arrived on scene,
found 36 bundles wrapped in green cellophane.

The marijuana inside weighed 743 pounds. Moorman is charged with drug
possession.

Three people in a GMC Yukon waited alongside the road in the middle of the
afternoon Jan. 24.

Justin Delvis Morgan did not have a valid driver's license and had an object
hanging from his rearview mirror that a trooper determined to be obstructing
the man's view.

The trooper asked to search the truck. Before he could do so, a passenger
told the trooper they had about 600 pounds of marijuana on board, court
documents state.

Inside several duffel bags and garbage bags were 755 pounds of marijuana.

Charles Ray McSwain, Winona McSwain and Morgan had made several such trips
with a vehicle full of drugs, Charles McSwain told authorities, according to
court documents. He was supposed to pay Winona McSwain and Morgan $14,000
for their help on the trip.

All three are charged with possession of drugs with intent to deliver.

Illinois I-80 near Iowa stateline

Probable cause found to hold couple on drug possession By Lisa Hammer,
An Illinois State Police trooper checking on a vehicle stopped along
Interstate 80 found more than he bargained for -- a little more than 29
pounds of heroin likely worth $3.9 million.

A Henry County judge found probable cause Monday to hold Mario Lendos, 27,
of Santa Ana, Calif., and his wife Angelina Lendos, 29, of Schuyler, Neb.,
with Class X felony counts of manufacture/delivery of 900-plus grams of
heroin and conspiracy to manufacture/deliver 900-plus grams of heroin, Class
1 felony counts of drug possession and Class 4 felony counts of having a
secret compartment in a vehicle.

Both were in the Henry County Jail late Monday on $1 million bail.

Trooper Clint Thulen testified he'd stopped near the Geneseo exit of
Interstate 80 just before 9 a.m. June 13 to check on a minivan stopped on
the side of the road with its flashers on.

He said he became suspicious because the driver, who he identified as Mr.
Lendos, was overly nervous and had a large amount of currency in his wallet.
The van also smelled strongly of air freshener and didn't contain much
luggage, the trooper said.

The van was searched by Trooper Thulen's K-9, Rocko, who alerted on its
passenger side and dashboard, he testified. When Trooper Thulen and Sgt.
Floyd Blanks searched the glove box, they found a secret compartment
containing what they suspected to be heroin.

In all, 13 kilograms of the drug was found in the van, he testified, adding
it has a street value of as much as $3.9 million.

Trooper Thulen said Mr. Lendos told troopers he bought the van this past
March and was unaware of any drugs in it.

He added that Mr. Lendos told troopers he and his wife were headed to
Chicago to find a wholesale clothing manufacturer to buy stock for her
clothing store in Nebraska. The name and location of that store wasn't
available late Monday.

A defense motion to substitute judges was granted, and the Lendos' cases
will be sent to Chief Circuit Judge Jeffrey O'Connor for assignment.