18 lbs. of meth & 3 oz. cocaine wrapped as Christmas gift seized in Beltrami County

BELTRAMI COUNTY, M.N. (Valley News Live) - The Paul Bunyan Drug Task Force of Beltrami County says it seized around 18 lbs. of methamphetamine and three oz. of cocaine wrapped as a Christmas present following a traffic stop on Dec. 23.

Officials say 35-year-old Kenneth Triplett was arrested, as part of an ongoing investigation. His vehicle was taken to the county’s Law Enforcement Center, where a search warrant was conducted. That’s where the ‘present’ was discovered. The street value of this seizure is over $650,000.

The vehicle’s search led law enforcement to conduct a search warrant of Triplett’s home, where two firearms and more items indicative of drug trafficking were found.

This seizure makes for a record-setting year for the PBTF, bringing the total amount of methamphetamine seizures to over 55 lbs. Officials say this is a 12,500% increase in the last 10 years.

The Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office, MN BCA, Bemidji PD, and MN State Patrol assisted the PBTF in this case.