{"id":35299,"date":"2026-06-27T08:34:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T13:34:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=35299"},"modified":"2026-06-27T08:34:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T13:34:25","slug":"detroit-lakes-court-case-alleges-major-drug-seizure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/detroit-lakes-court-case-alleges-major-drug-seizure\/","title":{"rendered":"Detroit Lakes Court Case Alleges Major Drug Seizure"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Detroit Lakes Court Case Alleges Major Drug Seizure<\/h2>\n

DETROIT LAKES<\/strong> (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) \u2014 Ashante Otis Epps, 37, of Minneapolis, faces a first-degree controlled substance charge.<\/p>\n

The case was filed in Becker County District Court.<\/p>\n

The charge follows a May 6, 2026, traffic stop involving a planned drug purchase.<\/p>\n

A confidential informant had reportedly agreed to buy drugs from Epps.<\/p>\n

The informant was working with the Becker County Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

Investigators stopped the vehicle carrying Epps while it traveled toward the planned meeting.<\/p>\n

Drug Packages Reportedly Found<\/h2>\n

During the stop, a deputy noticed a large bulge near Epps\u2019 ankle.<\/p>\n

The criminal complaint says a pat search followed.<\/p>\n

Epps allegedly struggled with officers before he was placed in handcuffs.<\/p>\n

Investigators reported finding a large package inside his right pant leg.<\/p>\n

The package field-tested positive for methamphetamine and weighed about 448 grams.<\/p>\n

Another white powder was found inside his left pant leg, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

Investigators believed that substance was about 92 grams of fentanyl.<\/p>\n

The supplied records do not include final laboratory results for either substance.<\/p>\n

Epps Denied Having Drugs<\/h2>\n

Epps denied possessing drugs before his arrest, the complaint states.<\/p>\n

He said the vehicle was traveling to his aunt\u2019s home.<\/p>\n

However, he declined to provide her address, according to court records.<\/p>\n

The complaint does not identify the driver or explain whether others were charged.<\/p>\n

Bond Posted and Release Ordered<\/h2>\n

Epps posted a $150,000 bond on May 11.<\/p>\n

He was released under standard court conditions that same day.<\/p>\n

The supplied record does not list additional restrictions or monitoring requirements.<\/p>\n

Epps also signed a waiver of extradition on May 11.<\/p>\n

The waiver allowed authorities to return him to Minnesota for court proceedings.<\/p>\n

The available information does not identify the other state involved.<\/p>\n

It also does not explain why the extradition waiver was required.<\/p>\n

No further Becker County court date was listed in the supplied records.<\/p>\n

Minnesota Drug Law<\/h2>\n

Minnesota\u2019s first-degree controlled substance law<\/a> covers several possession and sale offenses.<\/p>\n

The exact charging subdivision was not included in the supplied case summary.<\/p>\n

A conviction can bring up to 30 years in prison.<\/p>\n

The maximum fine is $1 million.<\/p>\n

Those are maximum penalties and do not predict the case outcome.<\/p>\n

The Becker County District Court<\/a> is located in Detroit Lakes.<\/p>\n

Public updates may appear through Minnesota Court Records Online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Charge Remains an Allegation<\/h2>\n

A criminal complaint presents allegations made by prosecutors.<\/p>\n

It does not establish guilt or prove the substances were illegal drugs.<\/p>\n

Epps is presumed innocent unless the charge is proven beyond a reasonable doubt.<\/p>\n

I’m Chris Harper reporting for TRF News<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Detroit
Detroit Lakes Court Case Alleges Major Drug Seizure<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ashante Otis Epps, 37, faces a first-degree drug charge in Becker County after deputies reported finding methamphetamine and suspected fentanyl.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12],"tags":[9414,871,2714,772,929,1191,926,382,2618],"class_list":["post-35299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-alleges","tag-case","tag-court","tag-crime","tag-detroit","tag-drug","tag-lakes","tag-major","tag-seizure","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35299"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35303,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35299\/revisions\/35303"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}