FBI: Men on train were carrying 700 K in stolen bonds
SALT LAKE CITY Authorities believe they’ve cracked a case of stolen savings bonds.
Five men riding an Amtrak train through Utah were recently arrested after police found them with 700-thousand dollars in savings bonds missing from a home in Sparks, Nevada.
The men were ejected from the train in rural Utah, on February 19th after they were suspected of smoking marijuana.
With help from a drug-sniffing dog, police found the bonds in a travel bag.
The five men are charged with possessing stolen securities. Three are still in custody.
The F-B-I says the men were traveling to Chicago from California to launder the bonds.
During questioning, the feds say some of the men mentioned being from the Phoenix area.
They were evicted from the train at Helper, where they were met by the police. And yes, Emory county has a drug dog. Sounds like that dog is worth $700,000 this morning.
At first I thought the title of the post referred to a new advertising campaign and then realized it might be referring to their history of no bid contracts. Oh well…One thought that occurred was the security screening if any that occurs these days on Amtrak trains…not that it is directly related to the story…
Amusing that these guys, trying to get away with a big heist, call all this attention to themselves by smoking marijuana on a passenger train!
It brings to mind that the authorities first nabbed Terry McVeigh (Oklahoma City bomber) by pulling him over for driving with expired tags on his truck.
When you’ve done some huge crime, these relatively minor offenses just don’t seem like a big deal!
Amtrak (says it) has the right to eject even a tobacco smoker. At the next station. Even if it’s closed. I think they get their luggage thrown off, too. -a.s. A bit [#offtopic] perhaps, but it amuses me to think that, if mere tobacco were their contraband, they might have gotten away once thrown off? Or does the person on the train crew who expels them notify the police if indeed it’s dark and the depot is closed?
Depending on the responses I get, now that might be something the fibbies could use!
IIRC SOP is to call the police if a passanger is being evicted. At least the one time recently I was on Amtrak and a passenger was evicted - the police were called.