{"id":39659,"date":"2026-07-28T04:52:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T09:52:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=39659"},"modified":"2026-07-23T19:38:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T00:38:16","slug":"detroit-lakes-man-charged-in-cocaine-case-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/detroit-lakes-man-charged-in-cocaine-case-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Detroit Lakes Man Charged in Cocaine Case"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Detroit Lakes Man Charged in Cocaine Case<\/h2>\n

DETROIT LAKES<\/strong> (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) \u2014 A Detroit Lakes man faces a felony drug charge after a traffic stop in Becker County.<\/p>\n

Richard Lee Washington, 72, has been charged with third-degree drug possession.<\/p>\n

The charge alleges Washington aided another person in possessing at least 10 grams of cocaine.<\/p>\n

The case was filed in Minnesota\u2019s Seventh Judicial District Court in Becker County.<\/p>\n

Washington is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.<\/p>\n

Investigation Began in Late 2025<\/h2>\n

According to the criminal complaint, investigators began examining suspected drug activity in late 2025.<\/p>\n

The investigation involved Washington and Charles Hughes Sr.<\/p>\n

The complaint states Washington was found with cocaine during two earlier incidents.<\/p>\n

Authorities said laboratory testing identified about 6.4 grams of cocaine from a December 2025 seizure.<\/p>\n

Testing also identified about 5.4 grams from a January 2026 seizure.<\/p>\n

Washington later told investigators that he received cocaine from a person in the Twin Cities, the complaint states.<\/p>\n

Vehicle Followed From Twin Cities<\/h2>\n

Investigators later obtained a warrant to track a cellphone linked to Hughes.<\/p>\n

On May 19, 2026, tracking data showed the phone traveling toward Minneapolis and St. Paul.<\/p>\n

Surveillance video reportedly showed Hughes carrying a black backpack.<\/p>\n

He then entered a red Ford Escort registered to Washington, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"RichardRichard Lee Washington<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Law enforcement watched the vehicle return toward the Detroit Lakes area.<\/p>\n

Officers stopped the Ford Escort on Highway 10 near Detroit Lakes.<\/p>\n

Washington was driving, while Hughes was seated in the passenger area.<\/p>\n

Washington told authorities that he had dropped Hughes off during the Twin Cities trip.<\/p>\n

He said he went shopping while Hughes was away from the vehicle.<\/p>\n

Washington also said the black backpack belonged to Hughes.<\/p>\n

Backpack Allegedly Held Suspected Cocaine<\/h2>\n

A search warrant was carried out on the vehicle on May 20.<\/p>\n

Authorities reported finding about 17 ounces of a substance inside the black backpack.<\/p>\n

The substance produced a positive field test for cocaine, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

A field test is an early screening tool. Final laboratory results were not listed in the complaint.<\/p>\n

Third-degree drug possession is a felony under Minnesota Statute 152.023<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The listed maximum penalty is 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both.<\/p>\n

Case information may be available through the Minnesota Judicial Branch court records system<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I’m Adrian Cole reporting for TRF News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 TRF News. All rights reserved.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Detroit Lakes man faces a felony drug charge after authorities reported finding about 17 ounces of suspected cocaine in a backpack.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39660,"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":"","_bluesky_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":[15304,21659,17720,955,9483,786],"class_list":["post-39659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-becker-county-court","tag-cocaine-charge-minnesota","tag-detroit-lakes-drug-charge","tag-minnesota-crime-news","tag-richard-lee-washington","tag-trf-news","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39659","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=39659"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39659\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39661,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39659\/revisions\/39661"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}