Feds: Minneapolis, Dakota County search warrants stemmed from 900 lbs of meth found in Burnsville storage unit
The discovery of more than 900 pounds of crystal methamphetamine in a Burnsville storage unit led to authorities carrying out eight search warrants in the Twin Cities last week, according to a criminal complaint filed this week.
The law enforcement presence during the June 3 warrant action in South Minneapolis drew protesters who were concerned it was a federal immigration enforcement action.
A federal grand jury returned a four-count indictment against a 27-year-old St. Paul woman on Tuesday, charging her with assaulting officers during the protest and punching an FBI agent when she was arrested.
Information in a federal criminal complaint provides the first details about the scope of the investigation that led to the search warrants.
'The search warrants were part of a long-term drug trafficking, money laundering, and human trafficking investigation involving a transnational criminal organization,' Acting U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Joseph Thompson said in a statement.
The complaint gives the following information:
The 900 pounds of crystal meth found during a previous search warrant in Burnsville were 'concealed in multiple tubes separately held in large spools of metal. Agents estimate that, conservatively, this amount of methamphetamine had a street value of between $22 million and $25 million.'
Agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI, Internal Revenue Service and Homeland Security Investigations executed search warrants on June 3 in Burnsville, Inver Grove Heights, Lakeville, Bloomington, Minneapolis and Northfield.
The warrants, authorized by a federal judge, 'directed law enforcement to search for and seize evidence related to … transportation, storage, ordering, purchase and distribution of controlled substances, money laundering, bank fraud, human trafficking, and firearms violations' for multiple years.
The search warrants were filed under seal and will remain sealed, pending indictment, because the investigation is ongoing.
Agents seized evidence at each of the locations, including a set of gold-plated firearms at a Northfield residence. They were 'adorned similarly to others regularly observed to be used by and seized from narco-traffickers.'
At a Burnsville business, agents saw multiple 'Scarface' movie portraits. 'Such 'homage' images are regularly observed by law enforcement as adornments to the walls of homes and businesses of those involved in the drug and related money laundering trades,' the complaint said.
Agents started carrying out the warrants at residences at 6 a.m. on June 3 and then progressed to business locations. Shortly after 10 a.m., federal agents began executing a search warrant at a Minneapolis restaurant at Lake Street and Bloomington Avenue.
St. Paul police looking for hit-and-run driver who critically injured pedestrian
Federal appeals court hears arguments in Trump's bid to erase hush money conviction
Eichorn argues federal prosecutors singling him out after child sex sting
Man charged with aiding an offender in teen's killing at Northtown Mall has an open manslaughter case
Sean 'Diddy' Combs' ex says she joined 'cuckold' sex marathons to feel loved by him
A crowd of people gathered in the area. They 'appeared to be under the mistaken belief that the gathered law enforcement officers were present to arrest individuals illegally present in the country for immigration offenses,' the complaint said. 'This was incorrect.'
While 'some people in the crowd were engaged in legal protest activity,' there were incidents of assaults on law enforcement and federal agents worked to identify the people involved. One was identified as the 27-year-old St. Paul woman, the complaint said.
She was seen on body-worn cameras and open-source videos — she kicked an FBI SWAT officer, pushed another FBI SWAT officer and threw a softball at the back of a Hennepin County sheriff's deputy, according to the charges. She is in custody.
Georgia Fort, founder of BLCK Press, wrote that the woman was arrested after leaving an interview at her downtown St. Paul office. 'Video clips circulating online … showed her being assaulted by agents in fatigues,' Fort wrote of what happened last week.
She also said the woman's arrest led to unanswered questions: 'How did federal agents know exactly where she would be — and when? Was she being surveilled? Or targeted for speaking to the press?'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
43 minutes ago
- Yahoo
California Sen. Alex Padilla Forced to the Ground and Handcuffed for Asking Question at Homeland Security Event: Watch
California Sen. Alex Padilla was physically removed then handcuffed during a news conference in Los Angeles on Thursday, June 12. He was quickly escorted out of the room after attempting to ask Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem a question. Noem, 53, was holding a press conference to address the ongoing protests against President Donald Trump's immigration policies and the administration's aggressive response. Padilla — who succeeded Kamala Harris in 2021 to become California's first Latino senator — has been an outward Trump critic and directed a recent post on X at the federal immigration raids in Los Angeles. 'Trump isn't targeting criminals in his mass deportation agenda," he wrote, "he is terrorizing communities, breaking apart families and putting American citizens in harm's way.' Video footage that quickly circulated online on Thursday shows officers dragging Padilla out of the room and into the hallway after he says, 'I am Senator Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary.' The footage then captures Padilla, 52, pushed down with his face against the ground and handcuffed by officers wearing FBI vests. Padilla can be heard saying, 'Hands off!' during the incident. Padilla's office issued a statement shortly afterward, saying, 'He tried to ask the Secretary a question, and was forcibly removed by federal agents, forced to the ground, and handcuffed.' The office also clarified to the public that he was not still being held by authorities. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer. Padilla later released his own statement, saying, "We have repeatedly asked the Trump Administration for answers on the deployment of military forces and the needless escalation in Los Angeles over the last week — and have gotten limited to no information." "I attended Secretary Noem's press conference in hopes of getting some answers," he continued. "After identifying myself and trying to ask a question, I was aggressively pushed out of the room, forced to the ground, and handcuffed." Padilla concluded: "If that's what they do to a United States Senator with a question, imagine what they can do to any American that dares to speak up." The Department of Homeland Security responded to backlash from the video on X, saying, "Senator Padilla chose disrespectful political theatre and interrupted a live press conference without identifying himself or having his Senate security pin on as he lunged toward Secretary Noem. Mr. Padilla was told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers' repeated commands. Various politicians and members of his community have voiced their support for Senator Padilla. California Gov. Gavin Newsom shared the video on X, calling this incident 'outrageous, dictatorial, and shameful.' He continued saying, 'Trump and his shock troops are out of control. This must end now.' The Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which Padilla belongs to, called the situation "unacceptable, full stop' and demanded 'a full investigation and consequences for every official involved in this assault against a sitting US senator." Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote on X, 'Watching this video sickened my stomach, the manhandling of a United States Senator, Senator Padilla.' 'We need immediate answers to what the hell went on,' Schumer added. Read the original article on People
Yahoo
43 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Federal task force established to fight transnational crime in KC region
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations announced that a new task force in the Kansas City area will be working to identify and prosecute criminals. The FBI and HSI say the new Kansas City Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) region will encompass Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri, with locations in Kansas City, Wichita, Des Moines and Omaha. Kansas City police investigate homicide after man found dead behind Midtown apartments The purpose of the task force, according to the FBI and HSI release, is to end the presence of criminal cartels, foreign gangs and transnational organized crime throughout the region. More specifically, the HSTF will focus on drugs, human and weapon trafficking, money laundering, alien smuggling, homicide, extortion, kidnapping, and more. The HSTF will use both federal agents, as well as law enforcement agencies, intelligence analysts and professional staff. 'This new HSTF model puts all agencies in the same room with one focus: crushing the presence of criminal organizations in our communities,' said FBI Kansas City Special Agent in Charge Stephen Cyrus. 'Through interagency collaboration and surging resources to this task force, the FBI and HSI are making clear it's priority: protect the homeland and ensure the safety and security of our community from violent criminals.' KC metro cities preparing for 'onslaught' of tourists ahead of KC2026 The regional HSTF was established to the US Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security by President Trump's Executive Order 14159. To read that order, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
43 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Russia is amplifying conspiracy theories about the L.A. protests
Protests against immigration raids in Los Angeles have triggered a flood of falsehoods and conspiracy theories online, and Russia has sought to exploit and amplify them, experts say. Russian media and pro-Russian voices have embraced right-wing conspiracy theories about the protests, including one that alleged the Mexican government was encouraging the demonstrations against President Donald Trump's immigration policies. Mexico has strongly rejected the accusation — which was repeated by Trump's chief of homeland security — as utterly false. The episode illustrates how foreign adversaries are taking advantage of genuine divisions among Americans, a tried-and-true strategy in information warfare, analysts say. Right-wing American voices online are pushing the idea that the protests in Los Angeles are not what they appear and that a secret, leftist cabal tied to Democratic politicians and the billionaire philanthropist George Soros is orchestrating unrest, experts said. 'We are following a playbook that we've followed many times before. We're seeing a lot of the same tropes, even a lot of the same exact conspiracy theories that we've seen circulate around previous protests,' said Darren Linvill, a professor at Clemson University who studies social media disinformation. There were echoes of how falsehoods spread during the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, he said. 'People are, as they tend to do on social media, believing the messages that they're inclined to believe,' Linvill said. 'And influencers are taking advantage of that, oftentimes with false or sort of purposefully misleading content.' Right-wing users have posted baseless assertions that the Democratic mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, has ties to the CIA and is orchestrating protests to oust President Donald Trump. 'Bass is a political warlord. She's utilizing her expertise to encourage these riots—to try to topple Trump & you,' wrote conservative podcast host Liz Wheeler on a post on X. Moustafa Ayad of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, an international nonprofit that focuses on 'safeguarding democracy,' said there were parallels to how social media users have reacted to previous protests or to hurricanes that struck the Southeast last year. 'I liken it to the aftermath of Milton and Helene last year,' Ayad said. 'We have a crisis or a conflict point that is occurring, and there are numerous narratives that are being spread online that the government is somehow involved in the protests, paying protesters, or this is a deep-state plot against the United States by the CIA and other government actors,' Ayad said. From the political left, narratives online have focused on how the federal government and the military were allegedly preparing to use lethal force, while right-leaning voices warned of plots to oust Trump and cause chaos in American cities, according to Ayad. 'It's a bit like being on a seesaw, just gyrating between those two things,' he said. 'Sadly, there's this giant reinforcing loop that just builds further steam as the protests continue day to day.' Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Tuesday repeated baseless assertions online that the Mexican government was encouraging violent protests. Mexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum, quickly responded, rejecting the accusation as 'absolutely false' but saying she was confident that the 'misunderstanding will be cleared up.' The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Conservative and pro-Russian social media accounts cited an outdated video of the Mexican president as the basis for their claims she was fomenting protests in Los Angeles, according to NewsGuard, a fact-checking website. The video was taken from a press conference on May 24, nearly two weeks before the start of the L.A. protests. The Mexican president's remarks were taken out of context. Sheinbaum was referring to a proposed tax by the Trump administration on any income earned by Mexican immigrants that is sent on to their families in Mexico. She criticized the proposal and said at the time: 'If necessary, we'll mobilize' against the tax. Conservative commentator Benny Johnson then posted the May 24 clip of Sheinbaum after protests began last week in Los Angeles and wrote that she was calling for protests in the United States. The post has received 6.7 million views. At a news conference on Monday, Sheinbaum made clear her government opposes any violence associated with protests. 'We do not agree with violent actions as a form of protest.' Bret Schafer, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund think tank's Alliance for Securing Democracy, said Russia's information operations online were embracing pro-Trump portrayals of the protests as a leftist violent assault. 'Russia is in effect cheering on Trump's response and suggesting that it's warranted,' Schafer said. 'They have certainly intimated that these protests are being staged or funded by the radical left.' Russian news outlet Komsomolskaya Pravda quoted a Russian blogger in L.A. saying the protesters were not migrants but 'militants' who arrived on buses. Russian nationalist commentator Alexander Dugin wrote on X that the protests were an insurrection, a 'nationwide conspiracy of liberals against not only Trump but against American people in general.' Viktor Bout, the Russian arms dealer dubbed the 'Merchant of Death' by U.S. and British authorities who was released in a prisoner exchange in 2022 after spending 11 years behind bars in the United States, also weighed in on the protests. Russian media outlet Pravda quoted Bout comparing the demonstrations to the 2014 Maidan protests in Ukraine against what was then a pro-Moscow government, with Bout claiming the L.A. protests were highly organized. Pravda also quoted Sergei Markov, a former adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying the United States was in the middle of a 'civil war' pitting coastal states against interior states. Sputnik reposted a viral image of a pallet of bricks, asking why it was near the protest sites. But fact-checkers at Lead Stories geolocated the photo to a construction site about 3,000 miles away, in New Jersey. China, however, was taking a different tack. Instead of leaning into pro-Trump narratives and repeating right-wing conspiracy theories, Beijing portrayed America as a country in turmoil. Chinese media and pro-China voices argued the American government's response to protests in Los Angeles was 'heavy-handed and therefore hypocritical' in light of Washington's criticisms of other countries' treatment of dissent, according to Schafer. An affiliate of China's global television network reminded viewers that then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had praised protests in Hong Kong in 2019 as a 'beautiful sight' but asked if the American government viewed the L.A. protests in the same way. A pro-Beijing commentator, Li Jingjing, denounced what she called U.S. interference in other countries' affairs even as it denounced protesters on its soil. 'US hypocrisy at its best,' she wrote in a post. The pervasive online image of the supposed pallet of bricks frequently shows up when there are street protests, according to the Social Media Lab, a research team at Toronto Metropolitan University. 'It's catnip for right-wing agitators and grifters,' the lab said in a social media post. 'The fact that these types of fake images are used isn't a coincidence. It's part of a pernicious & persistent narrative that protests against government policies are somehow inauthentic,' it added. The approach is 'meant to make these movements seem less legitimate or less worthy of public support.' This article was originally published on
