A judge Wednesday set $50,000 cash bonds for three Minnesota women who were arrested at O’Hare International Airport on Tuesday after customs agents found more than $3 million worth of heroin and opium in their luggage, authorities said. 
 
 Pa Yang, 57, Mai Vue Vang, 58, and True Thao, 52, had been passengers on a flight from Japan to O’Hare, police said. 
 
 During a hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building, Judge Donald Panarese Jr. ordered Yang, Vang, and Thao held on $50,000 cash bonds each, records show. 
 
 All three are slated to appear in court again on June 2. 
 
 Customs agents who searched their luggage after landing found small packets of heroin and opium--a total weight of about 31.5 kilograms. The street value of the recovered drugs was estimated by police at more than $3 million. 
 
 The women, all of whom live in Minnesota, were each charged with manufacturing or delivery of narcotics. ||||| Three women arrested at O’Hare with $3M worth of drugs 
 
 Three Minnesota women were arrested Tuesday afternoon at O’Hare International Airport carrying more than $3 million worth of heroin and opium. 
 
 Pa Yang, 57; Mai Vue Vang, 58; and True Thao, 52 were each charged with one felony count of manufacturing and delivering more than 900 grams of heroin or heroin analogs, according to Chicago Police. 
 
 All three are U.S. citizens who were returning to the United States from Vientiane, Laos via Narita, Japan, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 
 
 The women were arrested about 4:20 p.m. in Terminal 5 of the airport after they got off a flight from Japan, police said. 
 
 After the three were “selected for a baggage inspection,” agents “found 470 packets of a brown powdery substance concealed within bags of tea leaves. The packets containing the brown powder tested positive for opium,” a statement from Customs and Border Protection said. 
 
 The narcotics totaled nearly 70 pounds and have an estimated street value of more than $3 million, according to police and CBP. 
 
 Yang and Vang are from St. Paul, Minnesota; and Thao is from Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, police said. 
 
 All three are being held in the Cook County Jail on $50,000 bonds, according to the Cook County sheriff’s office. They are next scheduled to appear in court June 2. 
 
 
 
 “Today is a great example of how the officers of U.S. Customs and Border Protection work daily to stop the illegal drug flow into the United States,” Matthew Davies, Chicago Area Port Director for CBP, said in the statement. “Even though these would-be smugglers are trying new concealment methods each and every day, I just want to remind them that if they try to get through Chicago, we will catch them!”
– Three women were allegedly found with more than $3 million worth of drugs hidden in bags of tea leaves Tuesday afternoon at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, the Chicago Sun Times reports. Authorities say nearly 70 pounds of opium and heroin were divided up into 470 tiny packets in their luggage. The three women are all US citizens from Minnesota, according to the Chicago Tribune. They arrived at O'Hare from Laos via a flight from Japan. True Thao, 52, Pa Yang, 57, and Mai Vue Vang, 58, have been charged with manufacturing or delivery of narcotics. They're currently being held on $50,000 bond.