Charges: Cops Find 11 Bags Of Meth, Nearly $60k In Roseville Apartment
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A 29-year-old Roseville woman faces a felony charge after police found 11-and-a-half pounds of meth and nearly $60,000 hidden in her apartment on Thursday.
The charge stems from an incident that happened on Wednesday. According to a criminal complaint filed in Ramsey County, Roseville police responded to a burglary call late that night on the 600 block of County Road B, where a witness saw a man boosting another up to a second-story window of an apartment complex. The witness scared the men away and told police what they looked like.
When police found and spoke with the men they said the apartment was a "drug stash house."
The following day, July 19, police went to the apartment, home of Graciela Fernandez-Valle. The officers told Valle about the attempted burglary and noticed that the apartment had almost no furniture, save for a deflated air mattress.
Valle allowed police to search the apartment and denied any illegal activity. Almost immediately, officers found an attached crawl space in a closet that held what looked to be meth.
With a search warrant, police recovered 11 bags of what looked like meth and $59,000 in cash, which was hidden in the stove. Officers tested one of the bags, which tested positive for the presence of meth. The other ten bags were sent to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for further testing.
According to the complaint, Valle told police a man had asked her to hold the drugs in exchange for money. She said she did not know the man or how to get in touch with him.
The Ramsey County Attorney's Office charged Valle Friday with one count of first-degree violation of a controlled substance.
If convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in jail and/or a $1,000,000 fine.
Valle is being held at the Ramsey County Law Enforcement Center. Her bail is set at $250,000 and she is scheduled to make her first court appearance next week.
Authorities identified Valle by her Mexican Consular card, but they are not sure if she was allowed legal authorization to be in the U.S. Roseville authorities are in contact with the DEA to determine if federal charges will be filed due to the quantity of meth found, police said.
