Two arrested after 1,455 pounds of pot found
URBANA – Two men are being held at the Champaign County Jail on $150,000 bond each after state police found 1,455 pounds of marijuana inside a rental truck headed from Houston to Danville.
According to a state police report, a state trooper pulled over a rental truck on the Interstate 57 exit ramp to Market Street in rural Champaign at 3:15 p.m. Saturday.
The driver of the truck, Leopoldo F. Requena, 49, who listed an address in Saybrook, gave police permission to search the truck. A police dog alerted to the presence of an illegal drug.
When officers searched the truck further, they found 1,455 pounds of marijuana concealed inside furniture in the truck. Police said the marijuana had a street value of about $6 million.
According to a court record, Requena told police he was on his way from Texas to Danville.
Police arrested Requena and a passenger, Fidencio Cesar Udabe, 24, who listed an address in the 700 block of Rittenhouse Drive, Houston, for unlawful marijuana trafficking.
Both Requena and Udabe pleaded innocent Monday to the Class X felony.
Judge John Kennedy set their next court appearances for Dec. 8 and directed that Requena be given a Spanish translator.
The incident was investigated by the state police and the Vermilion County Metropolitan Enforcement Group.
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