From left, Michael Dunnorm, Dante Kendle Vontrail and Anthony Williams FERGUS FALLS, Minn.-What started as a traffic stop on Interstate 94 near here on Wednesday, March 1, resulted in the arrest of three St. Paul men for having nearly 600 pounds of high grade marijuana in a truck.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Otter Tail County District Court, a Minnesota State Patrol trooper was watching eastbound traffic on I-94 when he noticed a Ford truck with obstructed license plates. The trooper pulled the truck over near mile marker 56 and asked two of the three men to wait outside while he spoke to the driver. The driver said he and the two men, who were his brothers, had flown to California to pick up the truck from his in-laws and were driving back to Minnesota. However, the driver's timeline and explanation was contradictory and when the trooper spoke to the other two men, their stories did not match the driver's timeline of the previous few days, the complaint said.
The truck was eventually towed and searched. In the truck bed, investigators found about 18 large duffle bags, each holding about 25 shrink-wrapped packages of high grade hydro marijuana.
Investigators estimated the 570 pounds of marijuana has a street value of about $1.75 million.
The three Minnesota men, Dante Kendle Vontrail, 22, Michael Dunnorm, 22, and Anthony Williams, 21, were charged with first-degree drug felony possession.
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Bond was set at $250,000 or $50,000 cash with conditions.
