May 3, 2020 – A California man is facing felony charges after Chicago police allegedly found him in possession of more than 50 pounds of marijuana outside Trump International Hotel & Tower in March.

Police say they saw Imanol Martinez, age 30, engaged in “behaviors and actions consistent with narcotics activity” outside the tower’s main entrance on March 25 at around 2:30 p.m. So, they struck up a conversation.

Martinez (left) was carrying so much pot, police said, they could smell it emanating from a duffle bag that he carried on his shoulder. When officers asked Martinez about the unique smell, he allegedly said he was carrying “CBD.”

He gave police permission to inspect the bag, which they said contained a heat-sealed bag that contained slightly more than a pound of suspected cannabis worth $8,000. But the big score came after Martinez allegedly gave police permission to search a nearby parked car. That is where officers say they found another 51 heat-sealed bags of pot weighing 54 pounds. Retail value, according to court records? $394,944.

Prosecutors charged Martinez with felony possession of more than 5,000 grams of cannabis and felony possession of more than 500 grams of cannabis. Circuit Judge Charles Beach released Martinez on a recognizance bond.