Man Busted on Amtrak with 31 Pounds of Pot

A Minneapolis man faces felony drug charges in Montana after a search of the luggage he checked on an Amtrak train turned up more than 31 pounds of marijuana and pot products, officials said.

Amtrak personnel contacted authorities last week to report a passenger smelled of marijuana, the Tri-Agency Safe Trails Task Force said.

Agents with the task force and the US Border Patrol contacted Mohamed Yasin Aboubaker when the train stopped in Havre on Oct. 16. Authorities removed his luggage and he was allowed to continue traveling east, the Havre Daily News reported.

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Officers searching his bags found 17 pounds of marijuana, 14 pounds of marijuana-infused edibles — such as brownies — along with about four ounces of hash.

Aboubaker, 33, was arrested when the train arrived in Malta, about 90 miles east of Havre. Aboubaker is jailed in Havre on $75,000 bond and faces felony charges of possession of dangerous drugs, possession with intent to distribute and carrying dangerous drugs on a train.

Havre Police Lt. Aaron Whitmer said Monday that Aboubaker got on the train in Seattle.

Aboubaker will be appointed a public defender when he makes his initial court appearance. That hearing has not been scheduled, Whitmer said.