Federal officials are now involved in the case against three people found in control of more than 10 pounds of methamphetamine, stolen guns and thousands of dollars in cash.
The Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are investigating the crime, which first came to officials' attention with a simple traffic stop, Berthold Police Department Chief Al Schmidt said.
He found a single pound of methamphetamine in the center console of a car driven by Tina Ganley, of Williston, when he pulled her over on Highway 2 for erratic driving and not having a license plate on Wednesday. In interviews at the Ward County jail, Schmidt learned of another 10 pounds of methamphetamine and a handgun at the Minot Days Inn, which he and other officers later located.
In further interviews, Schmidt learned of yet another "package," this one including two stolen guns, which law enforcement officers later intercepted at the Williston Best Western.
Ganley, Rocky Mayfield, of Phoenix suburb Goodyear, Ariz., and Oscar Delgado, of Phoenix, face charges of possession of and intent to deliver the drug. Mayfield, who is being held on $1 million bond, had $20,000 cash in his pockets when he was arrested. Delgado and Ganley are held on $500,000 bond.
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Schmidt said the trio has connections in Mexico, and he suspects that is part of their drug-dealing.
The federal investigators will get involved when this amount of drugs are involved, or when a violent crime involves narcotics, Schmidt said.
Methamphetamine is one of the drugs that has -- perhaps most severely -- proliferated the Oil Patch in recent years.
