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Suspects in record Peru drug seizure ordered held · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Suspects in Record Peru drug seizure ordered held. Written by Tom Collins
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  This article is being read by an automated voice, brought to you
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  by Everlett. La
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  Salle County prosecutors now say it was closer to 2.6 tons of
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  cannabis seized in a Friday traffic stop in Peru rather than the
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  3 tons first disclosed. But that's still a Salle County record, and
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  it was too big for a judge to consider granting pretrial release
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  to either of the suspects. Head Osamhan, forty five, of Harwood Heights,
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  and Mahmoud B. Basruk, forty one of Norwich, appeared Wednesday in LaSalle
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  County Circuit Court and asked to be cut loose while awaiting trial
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  for cannabis trafficking, a Class X felony carrying an extended term of
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  twelve to sixty years because of the size of the bust. Both
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  men struck out in their bids for release. LaSalle County Circuit Judge
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  Michelle A. Vescogni ordered both men detained ahead of trial. The judge
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  made a series of findings that precluded either suspect from getting supervised
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  release, such as with GPS monitoring, Cannabis may have been legalized in
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  small quantities, the judge ruled, but trafficking large quantities remains a non-probationable
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  offense. That's a significant, significant amount, the judge ruled. Vascogna
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  also said she was unpersuaded that conditions of release would prevent either
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  suspect from transporting drugs. This defendant still can traffic cannabis on GPS
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  monitoring, she said during Basuk's hearing. As
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  for Samhan, who reportedly was asleep in a bunking area of the
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  truck, Vescogni pointed out a police report in which Samhan apparently identified
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  himself as the co driver. The detention ruling means both are entitled
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  to a speedy trial within 90 days. Besruk will appear for arraignment
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  September 25 and Salmon will appear October 5. As previously reported, the
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  cannabis was seized during a random roadside motor carrier safety inspection around
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  uh 11:30 AM Friday on eastbound Interstate 80, between Plank Road and
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  Route 251 in Peru. A search yielded multiple pallets of cannabis and
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  cannabis products. The LaSalle County State's Attorney's Office disclosed a preliminary weight
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  of nearly three tons, since revised downward to about 2.6, Nend asserted
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  it was a record. Shaw Local News Network archives support that the
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  next largest seizure was a scant 1-ton, about 1,800 pounds, seized from
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  a woman in the mid-1990s.