FORT MORGAN, Colo. -- A Milwaukee, Wis., man is in the Morgan County Jail and more than 120 pounds of marijuana was seized Saturday thanks to alert Burlington Northern/Santa Fe Railroad employees, the Fort Morgan Times reported.
A passing BNSF train crew reported suspicious items along the track west of Fort Morgan shortly after 4 p.m. Saturday. Responding deputies found three bags containing quantities of marijuana packaged for distribution, according to a news release from the Morgan County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies set up surveillance of the area and just after 6 p.m., a man in a van was observed stopping and picking up the bags. The van was stopped a short distance later and the driver (and only occupant), Edward Holmes, 56, was arrested without incident, sheriff's officials said.
Information indicates Holmes was traveling through Morgan County and developed car trouble. The marijuana was stashed so it would not be discovered while he had his car worked on. Evidence indicates Holmes likely picked up the marijuana in Arizona.
Holmes was initially held on a charge of distribution of marijuana with a special offender tag due to the quantity of drugs involved. His bond was set at $60,000 after advisement in Morgan County District Court on Monday.
Employees of transportation and critical infrastructure, such as railroads, have been asked to be vigilant for suspicious activity for purposes of homeland security. If this had been something other than a drug drop, their vigilance may have prevented something far larger, according to the news release.
(The preceding article was published April 29, 2009, by the Fort Morgan Times.)
