2 California Brothers Charged with Possessing 28 Pounds of Marijuana in Burnsville

Two California brothers have been charged with felony drug possession in Minnesota after police say they found 28 pounds of “high-grade” marijuana in their Burnsville hotel room last week.

Johnny Tran, 21, and Johnson Tran Nguyen, 28, are charged with felony third-degree drug possession, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

According to the criminal complaints, cleaning staff at the Burnsville TraveLodge notified the hotel manager Sept. 21 that they had found a large duffel bag in a bathroom and also smelled marijuana in the room.

The manager opened the bag, found “several packages” of marijuana and called police, the complaint says.

Police found numerous 2- to 3-pound plastic freezer bags containing marijuana, which had been covered with coffee grounds in an apparent attempt to mask the scent, according to the complaint.

Members of the Dakota County Drug Task Force were called, and determined that the room contained about 28 pounds of marijuana with a street value of about $120,000.

The room was registered in Nguyen’s name. Front-desk staff told police that Nguyen had paid for the room in cash and was paying on a day-to-day basis; police began surveillance on the TraveLodge room and checked other hotels in the area.

Employees at the Prime Rate Motel in Burnsville told police that Nguyen had checked in with “another Asian male” and had paid cash. “The clerk indicated that the men’s behavior seemed strange, as they gave a very descriptive story about paying cash for a previous hotel room in Bloomington,” the complaint says.

The clerk said she heard from another person that the same two men were seen at a nearby gas station the day before, driving a dark-blue Ford Edge with California license plates.

A task force agent went to the gas station and tried to get surveillance video, but was told that Nguyen had checked back into the Prime Rate Motel and was driving a blue Ford Edge with California plates.

On Sept. 22, Tran and Nguyen left the Prime Rate carrying backpacks and drove in the blue Ford Edge to the TraveLodge, where they walked up to the room where the marijuana had been found, the complaint says.  The two men were arrested.

Tran admitted to police that he had sealed the individual bags of marijuana in California and brought them to Minnesota, according to the complaint. He also said someone was supposed to call one of the two men to arrange to pick up the marijuana in exchange for cash.

Authorities found $2,480 in cash from a backpack found in the Ford Edge, and heat-sealed plastic bags containing coffee grounds on the vehicle’s floor.

Both men have been released on bond. Omnibus hearings are scheduled Feb. 6 for Nguyen and Feb. 7 for Tran.