400 lbs of marijuana seized during stop

A man was arrested on January 16 after his convoluted travel plans caused Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers to become suspicious and a search of his van revealed he was transporting an estimated 400 lbs of marijuana.

On January 16, a trooper located in Crook County was contacted by another trooper who said she had stopped a van on Hwy 50 near Gillette and become suspicious of criminal activity, specifically the transportation of controlled substances. However, the second trooper did not have a K-9 available and was denied consent to perform a search.

The second trooper stated that the driver had claimed he rented a van in Portland and it was due back in Chicago, and that he had traveled through Fort Lewis, Washington while helping a friend move. The driver had allegedly indicated Portland was the closest they could find a van to rent.

According to the second trooper, the driver brought up multiple times that he was a veteran and had a military backpack and jacket visible in the vehicle.

“Based on the information provided, I was also suspicious the driver was involved in narcotics trafficking. It didn’t make sense that the vehicle was rented in Portland, then driven to Fort Lewis, only to end up back on Interstate 80, before crossing Wyoming and coming back up to I-90, only to have to go south again to Chicago,” states the trooper in his report.

The trooper also reports finding the references to the military suspicious and believed the driver was using Fort Lewis as part of a cover story and the vehicle never left Oregon.

The trooper located the suspect vehicle near milepost 172 on I-90 and observed it crossing lanes without signaling, with no apparent reason for the driver to change lanes. It appeared to the trooper that the driver was watching him in his rear view mirror and drove over the center line, continuing into the left lane to make it appear this had been intentional.

The suspect continued for approximately three miles before pulling to the shoulder and coming to a stop. The trooper reports making contact with the driver, Timothy Viane.

Viane allegedly stated he had flown to Portland to meet his friend, who had just gotten out of the military. His friend had already moved his belongings from Fort Lewis to Portland, he said, and was living with his girlfriend.

Viane allegedly said he was now driving the van, which was already loaded when he got to Portland, to “Sussex Falls” in South Dakota, which the trooper took to mean Sioux Falls. Viane allegedly said his friend’s girlfriend rented the van and he did not have any paperwork for it.

A second trooper who had arrived on scene issued a written warning to Viane for failing to signal a lane change. As he was working on this, the first trooper deployed his K-9 on the suspect vehicle.

The K-9 allegedly alerted to the odor of a controlled substance. A search of the van revealed 22 boxes, all of which contained suspected marijuana in plant form.

The boxes were allegedly labeled with the number of vacuum sealed packages inside. According to these numbers, the trooper reports that they contained 351 packages for a total weight of over 400 lbs.

Viane allegedly denied knowledge of the contents of the van. A rental agreement was located in the glove compartment showing that Viane himself had rented it on January 14, while receipts in the vehicle allegedly indicated he had then checked into a hotel in Grants Pass, Oregon a few hours later.

A second hotel receipt showed Viane had checked into a hotel in Park City, Utah the next night and had checked out the morning of January 16.

Viane was arrested and transported to the Crook County Detention Center. He has been charged with felony counts of possession of marijuana with intent to deliver and possession of marijuana.