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Washington Man Accused of Transporting Marijuana on Amtrak

Marquise Constantino pleaded not guilty to the charges in Flathead County District Court on June 25

By Justin Franz

A Washington man has been accused of felony criminal possession of drugs with the intent to distribute after he allegedly tried to transport marijuana from Seattle to Wisconsin on Amtrak.

Marquise Constantino pleaded not guilty to the charges in Flathead County District Court on June 25.

According to court records, on June 6, 2014, Constantino called Amtrak and said that he had missed his train in Seattle but that his luggage was onboard the eastbound Empire Builder. He requested that the bags be dropped off at Whitefish and that he would come the next day to retrieve them. When the train arrived in Whitefish, an Amtrak employee grabbed the luggage and smelled marijuana. The train’s conductor was informed and the police were called.

Officers found 12 bags of marijuana weighing one pound each in the suitcases and four jars of hashish. A Northwest Montana Drug Task Force agent received a search warrant and took custody of the marijuana.

The following day, Constantino arrived to claim his bags. He showed an Amtrak employee his identification and described the missing bags. Constantino told police that a man from Wisconsin was paying him to move drugs and that he had made more than 20 such trips on Amtrak in the last two years.