AG Tim Fox Talks About One of the Largest Drug Busts in Montana

Attorney General Tim Fox recently appeared on KGVO’s Talk Back show and he shared a story about a large drug bust that occurred last month in Stillwater County. Fox was on his way back to Helena during the day of the bust, but he stopped in Columbus for gas. An MHP trooper was also filing up so Fox went over to talk to him.

“I love to thank our first responders for their service so I went up to the trooper,” Fox said. “He knew who I was and we started talking. I asked him how his day was going and he said, ‘sir, my day is going great!’ It was such an enthusiastic response so I had to ask him why that was. Long story short, he had made a drug seizure of 78 pounds of methamphetamine on Interstate 90 that day.”

Fox said Montana Highway Patrol troopers are highly trained to recognize the signs of individuals who are trafficking drugs. In this particular case, the trooper had a drug dog with him and the dog hit on the car.

“The trooper got a search warrant,” Fox said. “Lo and behold, there was 78 pounds of meth in that vehicle. That is about 300,000 individual doses and is worth over $3 million in street value. The person who was driving that vehicle is in jail as we speak. I am pretty sure that they are running down a few other suspects as well.”

In 2014, K-9 narcotics units were introduced to help MHP guard the I-90 and I-94 corridors against drugs. According to Fox, Project Safe Neighborhoods has also played a significant role when it comes to prosecuting the most violent criminals in our communities.

“The message to these criminals has been to stay out of Montana,” Fox said. “Unfortunately, until we close our southern border and get a handle on the drugs that are being trafficked in and through our state from Mexico, we are still going to be playing catch up.”

According to Montana Department of Justice spokesperson John Barnes, last month’s drug seizure was by far the largest amount of meth they have seen in a single traffic stop.