A man and a woman are due in court this week in southern Minnesota on charges of hauling nearly $1 million worth of methamphetamine from Arizona, according to authorities.
Lucas J. Madison, 39, of South St. Paul, and Katherine B. Campbell, 32, of Rochester, have Tuesday court appearances scheduled in Rice County in connection with their apprehension along Interstate 35 on April 14 in Faribault.
Madison remains jailed in lieu of $1 million bail on charges of transporting illicit drugs across state lines and a related felony drug count.
Campbell has been released bond. She's charged with aiding and abetting the transport of the drugs and a second felony drug count.
"It is unfortunate that criminal activity like this occurs, even more so during these trying times in our society," Paul LaRoche, commander of the Cannon River Drug and Violent Offender Task Force, said in a statement about the arrests coming while law enforcement and society as a whole copes with the coronavirus outbreak.
"This case, in particular, was a large-scale investigation involving multiple law enforcement partners," LaRoche said. "I am proud of how well all worked together to intercept this large quantity of meth and prevent it from being distributed in our state."
According to the task force:
Investigators suspected Madison had been making frequent trips to Arizona and hauling "large amounts of narcotics" back to Minnesota.
On April 14, Madison and Campbell were tracked in their truck by investigators on the ground and in the air traveling from Arizona and returning to Minnesota with a substantial haul of methamphetamine.
Drug agents stopped the suspects' vehicle on I-35 in Rice County. A K-9 detected the narcotics in the passenger compartment.
A full search of the vehicle turned up a total of 25-plus pounds, including packaging, of methamphetamine.
The drugs seized have "an approximate street value of nearly $1 million," the task force statement read.
Agents also located more than $17,000 in the vehicle, along with travel documents, boarding passes, and car rental agreements.
Madison has a criminal history in Minnesota dating back more than 20 years. He has three convictions for drugs, and also for weapons possession, fleeing police, theft, counterfeiting, domestic assault, property damage and drunken driving.
Campbell has three drug-related convictions in Minnesota on her record.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
