Tea anyone?
Three Minnesota women were arrested at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport after $3 million worth of heroin was found in their luggage.
The women, identified as Pa Yang, 57, Mai Vue Vang, 58, both of St. Paul, and True Thao, 52, of Brooklyn Center, were passengers on an international flight from Vietnam to O’Hare on May 10. They each were selected for a screening by TSA.
During the screening of their luggage by U.S. Customs agents, numerous small packets of heroin and opium were found in their bags, stuffed in tea bags.
The total amount weighed approximately 70 pounds, with an estimated street value of more than $3 million.
Judge Donald Panarese Jr. ordered Yang, Vang, and Thao held on $50,000 cash bonds each, on Wednesday, May 11.
All three are slated to appear in court again on June 2 to answer charges of manufacturing or delivery of narcotics.
Heroin is highly addictive. The opioid pain killer is widely used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects.
According to the CDC:
- A heroin overdose can cause slow and shallow breathing, coma, and death.
- People often use heroin along with other drugs or alcohol. This practice is especially dangerous because it increases the risk of overdose.
- Heroin is typically injected but is also smoked and snorted. When people inject heroin, they are at risk of serious, long-term viral infections such as HIV, Hepatitis C, and Hepatitis B, as well as bacterial infections of the skin, bloodstream, and heart.
They also report that heroin is not just a street-level drug. It’s an epidemic! “Heroin use has increased sharply across the United States among men and women, most age groups, and all income levels. Some of the greatest increases occurred in demographic groups with historically low rates of heroin use: women, the privately insured, and people with higher incomes,” they report.
Like heroin, opium is also an opiate drug.
