A woman carrying a laptop case from a Moorhead storage unit was found with more than 80 grams of methamphetamine in her purse and vehicle, prosecutors say.
Marissa Rae Linnea Beutler, 25, is charged in Clay County District Court with first-degree drug sale and first-degree drug possession, according to a complaint filed October 30.
According to the complaint, Moorhead police officers on patrol at about 2:45 a.m. on October 29 saw a woman leave a storage unit carrying a laptop case. Officers watched as she got into a silver Dodge Charger and drove to a nearby gas station on 28th Avenue South. The woman, later identified as Marissa Rae Linnea Beutler, went inside the store while an officer checked the vehicle’s temporary registration tag but was unable to get information from dispatch.
READ MORE → Clay County coverage
The complaint says that when officers took her into custody, Beutler tried to hand her purse to the store cashier. During a search of the purse, Beutler told officers they would find a meth pipe and possibly some methamphetamine inside.
Police found multiple items of meth paraphernalia, a bag of white powder, a bag of a rock-like substance and two containers with crystalized substances in the purse, along with $1,471.17 in cash. The complaint states the white powder weighed 3.4 grams, the rock-like substance weighed 0.6 grams, one container of crystal weighed 14.1 grams and the other container weighed 18 grams. Field tests showed the substances were methamphetamine.
Officers then searched Beutler’s vehicle and found a backpack with numerous pieces of tinfoil, $500 in cash, a device with suspected narcotic residue and a sandwich bag containing a white crystalline substance. Three $100 bills were on the front passenger seat and two more $100 bills were found elsewhere in the vehicle. Police also recovered a clear tote with narcan and a digital scale. The sandwich bag tested positive for methamphetamine and weighed 45 grams, according to the complaint.
Beutler was taken to the Clay County Jail and the seized substances were brought to the Law Enforcement Center for further testing.
Related MN CRIME Coverage
Pair Arrested for Drugs After Moorhead Motel Investigation • Fentanyl Seized From Moorhead Motel Room, Suspect Charged • Moorhead Man Charged in 2 Apartment Fires During Argument
