$4 million pot bust made on I-90

A van with out-of-state plates traveling at 35 mph on Interstate 90 piqued the interest of police who ended up seizing an estimated $4 million in high-grade marijuana over the weekend and take a sex offender off the streets.

“A lot is being in the right place at the right time, but a lot of it is looking for the right things,” said Kane County Sheriff's Lt. Patrick Gengler about the third significant arrest along the interstate in as many months.

Bond has been set at $10.1 million for the van's driver, Xaiana Thammavong, 45, of the 200 block of South Liberty Street, Elgin.

Thammavong was wanted on an Elgin warrant for failure to register as a child sex offender and had a revoked driver's license, Gengler said.

He was arrested after the traffic stop Saturday and charged with cannabis trafficking, manufacture and delivery of more than 5,000 grams of cannabis and possession of more than 5,000 grams of cannabis, Gengler said.

The most serious charges carry a sentence of six to 30 years in prison with no possibility of probation.

Gengler said a sheriff's deputy headed west on I-90 pulled up next to a Ford Econoline van with Arizona plates at about 10:30 a.m. Saturday. Thammavong slowed to 35 mph and leaned back in his seat in an attempt to hide his face, Gengler said.

The deputy pulled over the van at the Route 20 interchange in Hampshire and saw Thammavong and the passenger switch seats, Gengler said. Authorities arrested the pair and searched the van, finding more than 230 pounds of high-quality marijuana, he said.

The passenger, Xom Vonsaly, 58, of Fresno, Calif., also is charged with cannabis trafficking and also faces up to 30 years in prison, Gengler said. Her bond was set at $10 million.

Earlier this year, an unpaid toll on I-88 resulted in the arrest of two men from California with more than $1 million of high-grade marijuana in their car.

An obstructed trailer hitch last month on a pickup truck led to the arrest of a California man for money laundering after he was found with $43,000 shrink-wrapped in a duffel bag.

“I wouldn't say it's anything brand new. We know the interstates are used to transport large quantities of drugs,” Gengler said. “This one, when you get 230 pounds of cannabis and a guy with that kind of warrant out, this is even better.”

Both Thammavong and Vongsaly are due in court on March 24.

According to court records, Thammavong has convictions for burglary, window peeping and domestic battery in Elgin. Information about the sex charge was not immediately available.