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.