(The following article by Mike Weland was posted on the Boundary County News website on October 7.)
KOOTENAI, Idaho — A call from an Amtrak engineer seeking police assistance in ejecting an unruly passenger from a westbound train as it approached Bonners Ferry led to the closure of a marijuana operation in Pennington County, Minnesota, and their largest haul in years.
On Thursday morning, the Grand Forks Herald reported the Tuesday bust, which netted 236 pounds of Canadian-grown herb valued at about $3,000 a pound. In that report, law enforcement officials credited a cooperative effort between at least four Minnesota county sheriffs offices, the FBI, and the Boundary County Sheriffs Office.
The Boundary County Sheriffs Office had one more agency to add to the list, the Bonners Ferry Police Department and officer Don Parlow, who responded to the call for assistance that came at 12:45 a.m. Monday morning.
According to Tim Day, commander of the Boundary County Drug Task Force, heads-up work by Parlow, who noticed evidence in the man’s possession that led them to suspect his involvement with the Pennington grow operation. After finding the evidence and taking the man into custody, Parlow contacted Day, and then contacted the Thief River Falls, Minnesota Sheriffs Office Sheriffs Office. Day got in touch with Minnesota’s Northwest Drug Task Force, which has jurisdiction in Thief River Falls, Red Lake, Pennington and Mahnomen Counties, as well as the FBI.
“The information we were able to develop was sufficient for Minnesota officers to get the location and a warrant,” Day said. “Sometimes it comes together, and we’re fortunate to have found the evidence that led to the operation. It’s all about teamwork.”
Arrested in the quick sting was Lonnie Watne, 49, Goodridge, Minnesota, on a charge of a controlled substance crime in the first degree. Bond was set at $5,000 cash or $50,000 surety.
The name of the man thrown from the train is being withheld for his own safety. He remains in jail as investigations into the Amtrak incident and his involvement in the marijuana operation continue.