According to the local media, yes.

/I swear there's a contest to find 'The Florida Connection' of every major/national story

Rule of Thumb: Florida tag trumps all.

Young, brown and male = drug courier.

Protip to drug smugglers: hire white couples over the age of 25 to drive your stash across country in clean, late-model cars, and paying cash for gas and lodging.

StoneColdAtheist: Young, brown and male (and buying a one-way ticket) = drug courier.

FTFM

"He faces a mandatory sentence of six to 30 years in prison upon conviction."

I have no problem with this - IF other crimes were sentenced on par. In other words, when a CEO makes off with all the employees' pension money, he should suffer a MUCH, MUCH worse fate.

/in the "land of the free" that's clearly not going to happen

Great, I feel safer already.

/sarcasm for the pot.
//not sarcasm for him being a Florida man.

great, they busted another pot dealer/grower......must be why I slept so well last night.

FTFA: "Taylor said the marijuana would have had a street sale value of between $3,000 and $5,000 per pound, making the cache worth between $135,000 and $225,000."

At least they didn't indulge in the usual cop math, "...the marijuana would have had a street sale value of between $30,000 and $50,000 per pound, making the cache worth between $1,350,000 and $2,250,000."

For a minute there I thought it was one of those math-word problems.

"If an Amtrak train departs from the west coast, arrives in Illinois with a Florida man carrying 45 pounds of pot, how baked will the passengers be when when they make it to the East Coast?"

Extra credit: In what town do they start getting the munchies?

//maybe that's why they stopped in Illinois...hmmm...

skinink: Why would the DEA care about someone buying a one way ticket? I would guess if anyone cared about someone buying a one way ticket, it would be Homeland Security.

Maybe things have changed in the last 2 years, but I used to take Amtrak from NYC to DC and back all the time and was subject to exactly one baggage swipe test for explosives and no other scrutiny over probably 100 trips.

StoneColdAtheist: Young, brown and male = drug courier.

Protip to drug smugglers: hire white couples over the age of 25 to drive your stash across country in clean, late-model cars, and paying cash for gas and lodging.

If you have a couple to relay drive, why stop at lodging?

Protip to drug smugglers: If you follow the previous Protip, be sure to keep hostages. Otherwise, you'll be wondering why those untraceable late model cars, cash and stash never seem to show up at the drop.

Protip to protippers: If you want to protip make sure your tip is from a pro.

/bro

Depends subby. Was he originally from NY/NJ/PR? Was he an illegal immigrant?

If the answer is no, then yes the Fl tag is appropriate.

FTA: It's literally planes, trains, and automobiles.

Those aren't pillows!

StoneColdAtheist: Young, brown and male = drug courier.

Protip to drug smugglers: hire white couples over the age of 25 to drive your stash across country in clean, late-model cars, and paying cash for gas and lodging.

how do you know he wasn't a decoy thrown to the cops, while the big shipment was being carried by a bunch of white grannies on an "organized trip"?

TheOther: StoneColdAtheist: Protip to drug smugglers: hire white couples over the age of 25 to drive your stash across country in clean, late-model cars, and paying cash for gas and lodging.

If you have a couple to relay drive, why stop at lodging?

Protip to drug smugglers: If you follow the previous Protip, be sure to keep hostages. Otherwise, you'll be wondering why those untraceable late model cars, cash and stash never seem to show up at the drop.

I spent about 10 years working counter drugs while in the Air Force, and while working in various border region and south-of-the-border jobs I got the chance to see inside most major task force operations (except the one in San Diego). Once the drugs are across the border, distribution was the biggest hurdle for drug smugglers to overcome.

Statistically, single males couriers are the riskiest for getting caught, no matter their race, ethnicity or mode of travel. Two young males are next. Hispanics in any combo are next. Driving after midnight and before 6 am dramatically raises your chances of being caught, particularly in the southwest border States.

In contrast, one's chances of being stopped while driving on cruise control within about 5 mph of the speed limit during normal waking hours are effectively zero. A couple driving a clean late model light-colored 4-door sedan is practically invisible, particularly if they're paying cash for everything.

The cartels don't use white, non-Hispanic couriers, so that part of it is moot. They do take hostages, though.

I have a 4 door late model sedan, with car seats in the back and and a wife up front. All of it is fake mind you, to cover the 40 lbs of pot in my spare tire well. It pays to be white.

Why would anyone take any kind of public transport with this shiat when you've got 12 Enterprise rent-a-cars in every town?
This had to be a setup.

ReverendJasen: Why would anyone take any kind of public transport with this shiat when you've got 12 Enterprise rent-a-cars in every town?
This had to be a setup.

Yes, it said they were investigating him after he bought a train ticket. he was probally a known drug smuggler and they figured, hey hes gonna smuggle drugs on this trip. It wasnt like he was randomly found to have drugs on him while traveling on a amtrak. As long as you arn't known to the police to be involved with the drug trade, im sure the Amtrack train is a hell of a lot safer than driving it. You get a carry on with amtrak, no inspections. you could pack about 20lbs of bricks into a dufflebag full of clothes and such, keep it above you or in front of your feet the hole time.

"...does it still warrant the Florida tag?"

Yes. Florida doesn't wash off.

sift: As long as you arn't known to the police to be involved with the drug trade, im sure the Amtrack train is a hell of a lot safer than driving it. You get a carry on with amtrak, no inspections. you could pack about 20lbs of bricks into a dufflebag full of clothes and such, keep it above you or in front of your feet the hole time.

A hell of a lot safer than driving? You're still in public, with police, train employees, security, strangers, drug dogs, random checks, etc, all potential to be found out.
I've driven all over the damn country and never been pulled over unless I did something stupid. And if you've got drugs in the car you don't do anything stupid and no one has a reason to even look at you. As someone else said, drive the speed limit, avoid night driving, and don't be an idiot on the road and you're virtually invisible--unless you've been made and they're looking for you. In which case you're farked no matter what you take.
But I'll be damned if I take several pounds of anything illegal on any public transport.

You answered your own question, Subby.

/kudos

Amtrak collects a pct of cash confiscated from drug couriers. Since the Feds subsidize most of Amtrak, the DEA is a ready partner. If you buy a ticket, one way, and don't give them proper contact info, you're are flagged by Amtrak and the DEA. If the ticket is paid for by someone other than the traveler, I'm sure the same wheels will turn. By the way, Greyhound doesn't hide the fact they're allowing local law enforcement to drug sniff the baggage, underneath the bus, during their cleaning stops. While you're gone, they're also drug sniffing the seating area of the bus as well. If you're on the bus, stopping in Omaha, and you notice a group of men waiting for you to get off the bus, believe they are Cops. When you load back up, Those same guys will be standing there waiting to ask you if they can search your carry on. Before they do that, they'll ask about any bags carrying the bad stuff. They already know.

The more you know...

Let's not jump to conclusions now. Maybe it was a lifetime supply of medicinal marijuana for him and his entire neighborhood.

No, it does not deserve the Florida tag.

If a guy moves from Michigan to Florida and builds an Ark and then goes around in long robes collecting animals two by two, does he deserve a Michigan tag? (Assuming of course that there was a Michigan tag.)

dofus: If a guy moves from Michigan to Florida and builds an Ark and then goes around in long robes collecting animals two by two, does he deserve a Michigan tag?

Yes, he would.

He faces a mandatory sentence of six to 30 years in prison upon conviction.

This is outrageous, what the fark is wrong with us?

According to my calculations, the answer is eleventy billion dollars for the twenty pounds of pot.

i imagine this ridiculous operation cost us $1,000,000 and kept a bunch of people from mellowing out

Waste of taxpayer dollars. Those officers could be in a different agency doing some good. Or maybe they are permanently saturated with derp and must retire to be useful.

rev. dave: Waste of taxpayer dollars. Those officers could be in a different agency doing some good. Or maybe they are permanently saturated with derp and must retire to be usefuljail nonviolent drug offenders to keep vested financial interests happy.

/FIFY

Well he did debark, after all. and we all know that debark is worse than debite

skinink: "DEA agents began investigating Sanchez after he purchased a ticket on the west coast, Taylor said. They developed information Sanchez was carrying some sort of contraband."
Somebody narced on him. Why would the DEA care about someone buying a one way ticket? I would guess if anyone cared about someone buying a one way ticket, it would be Homeland Security.

They always suspected Sanchez was "dirty".

A Class X felony? Is that Roman numeral 10? Hell, 10's a lot of classes, but 24 would just be absurd.