COP TRAINING SESSION A DRUG-SEIZURE LESSON

What started out as a training exercise in drug seizure procedures
turned into the real deal for a joint task force of law enforcement
officials who arrested 10 people and seized marijuana worth $14
million from a truck parked at a Bolingbrook truck stop, officials
announced Tuesday.

The more than 1 1/2 tons of Mexican marijuana seized in the nearly
weeklong surveillance was headed for a Hinsdale warehouse and then was
bound for the streets of Chicago and suburbs, according to Lee E.
Wattenbarger, acting special agent in charge of the U.S. Customs
Service's Chicago investigations office.

Master Sgt. Jeff Gaither of the Illinois State Police is credited with
spearheading the bust after becoming suspicious about a truck that was
ostensibly hauling cabbage from Texas.

Gaither had gone to the truck stop at Interstate Highway 55 and
Illinois Highway 53 on Jan. 11 to survey the area for a training
exercise he was scheduled to give the next day as part of a seminar
being sponsored by the Illinois State Police, Customs Service and the
U.S. Department of Transportation, said Capt. Kevin Shaughnessy of the
state police.

The survey quickly turned into a course in drug seizures for the eight
officers with Gaither.

"He (Gaiter) noticed a mud flap on the truck was missing, the driver
was very evasive and nervous and then they just proceeded from there,"
Shaughnessy said.

After the truck was found to be carrying marijuana and the driver,
Clarence Poteet of Mesquite, Texas, agreed to cooperate with
authorities, the shipment was allowed to continue, eventually landing
at a Hinsdale warehouse a few days later, according to court documents.

Poteet and nine others were arrested as the drugs were being processed
for delivery at the warehouse at 11 S 360 Madison St.

Poteet and the other nine--Lugardo A. Gutierrez, Juan Pelayo, Daniel
Pelayo-Landazuri, Aaron Israel Quintero, of Chicago; Rodrigo Tores
Jr., of Holland, Mich.; Juan Exiquio Garza Jr. and Lizando Martinez of
McAllen, Texas; Jose Lopez of Reynosa, Mexico; and Sergio Pelayo, of
Jalisco, Mexico--were each charged Friday with conspiracy to possess
with intent to distribute marijuana.

The training exercise and subsequent drug bust also involved the Will
County Cooperative Police Assistance Team, Metropolitan Area Narcotics
Squad and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Gaither, based out of Springfield, has at least eight years on the
state police's Statewide Drug Interdiction Unit. "He just has a real
knack for it. He's one of the top (drug-seizure experts) in the state
and nation," said Shaughnessy.