"Bath salts" package from China to USA intercepted by customs, tests positive for meth, 3 ppl charged after controlled delivery

This occured in Rochester, Olmsted County, Minnesota, USA. Important stuff in bold.

Investigation reveals depth of drug transactions <- Requires stupid ass javascript to read story.

Posted: Friday, February 13, 2015 8:44 am
KAY FATE

More details have been made available about a federal investigation into area drug activity after the arrest of three people Tuesday.

Rachel Marie Bannister, 32, Machelle Jean Frisbie, 41, and Joey Jerome Bigelow, 43, have been charged with one felony count of fourth-degree drug sale and fourth-degree drug possession. Bannister, of Rochester, faces additional charges of fifth-degree drug sale and fifth-degree drug possession, also felonies.

The local participation in the case began Feb. 6, when an agent with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement / Homeland Security contacted the Olmsted County Sheriff's Office.

The agent said U.S. Customs had intercepted a package sent from China that was to be delivered to Bannister's home at [ADDRESS REDACTED]. The package had been opened, inspected and sent to a lab, resulting in the discovery of 1,018 grams of synthetic methamphetamine, the complaint says.

About 2 p.m. Tuesday, a captain with the sheriff's office delivered the package to Bannister's house, knocked and walked away. Someone inside opened the front door slightly, then immediately closed it; about five minutes later, the package was taken inside. Authorities entered the home with a search warrant immediately after, the report says, and found Bannister and her boyfriend inside.

According to the criminal complaint, Bannister said she had lived there for about a year and had gotten similar packages delivered, including two or three in the past six months. She told investigators she never opened them but knew they contained drugs. The packages are for Frisbie, Bannister said, who allegedly pays her $800 to $1,000 for every package delivery.

Bannister claimed she recently told Frisbie she no longer wanted to be involved, but Frisbie reportedly asked her to do it one more time. According to the complaint, Bannister said she knew it wasn't right, "but the money was there, and Frisbie knows I need the money."

Bannister allegedly admitted to smoking and selling marijuana and to the presence of methamphetamine in her home. Law enforcement recovered 8.1 grams of marijuana, the report says, and 1.4 grams of meth.

Officials then divided the large package of bath salts into two parcels and resealed one to be picked up by Frisbie as planned. Bannister sent Frisbie a message, saying that "mail" had come to her address that day and could be picked up. The two typically used "mail" to refer to the drugs, the complaint says.

Frisbie and Bigelow live near Rushford.

About 9 p.m., Bigelow arrived at Bannister's residence, knocked at the door and was let inside, where officers were performing surveillance. According to the complaint, Bigelow said Frisbie was home with the children and asked him to get the mail. **When he received the package, Bigelow looked at it for a while, then told Bannister that Frisbie would get her payment for the package later, the report says.

He left the home and was arrested as he walked toward his car.**

Frisbie subsequently was arrested and admitted she had talked to Bannister earlier but claimed the mail was actually a birthday present for her child. She said Bigelow went to pick it up, and the talk about money was because Frisbie "owed Bannister money from other things."

According to the criminal complaint, in 2012, Customs in Chicago seized a package containing nearly 300 grams of bath salts addressed to Frisbie.

A review of Frisbie's criminal history reflects four convictions for fifth-degree controlled substance crimes since 2011.

Bigelow has two convictions for fifth-degree controlled substance crimes and one for storing meth paraphernalia in the presence of a child or vulnerable adult. He remains in custody in lieu of $75,000 conditional bond.

Frisbie and Bannister are both being held in lieu of $10,000 conditional bond.

I imagine the methamphetamine positive reagent test that ICE did gave a false positive because of the similar structure of the molecule. Too bad we can't see the criminal complaint and Kay Fate can't be bothered write a better article.


Comments


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I'm not sure but I believe that MN has pretty tight analog laws so even though it was synthetic, when you get to brass tacks, there's not really non-synthetic methamphetamine.

I have to read more about it but I imagine the charges will stick.

And it does drive me nuts when articles go into detail about her claims the packs were birthday presents and there wee children in the room but leave out details like "the accused clearly didn't remember that you are supposed to call a damn attorney and not try to invent stupid stories to the police."

I mean, do people REALLY think they can explain this kind of stuff away like this and think the police will say "oh, gotcha. My bad - have a good week."

They must; you see this stuff in half the articles posted.