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.
