More than a pound of pot allegedly found

By Dan Nienaber
The Free Press

MANKATO — A mother who didn’t like what she saw while visiting her son’s Mankato apartment last month followed her intuition, called police and started an investigation that led to more than a pound of pot.

The woman called police after her son let her into his apartment in the 1800 block of Monks Avenue. She was suspicious about what she thought was drug paraphernalia. Those items turned out to be a suspected marijuana pipe and pot grinder, said the officer who responded to her call.

A search warrant was issued to Minnesota River Valley Drug Task Force agents after the woman also told the officer her son told her his roommates were selling marijuana. The search was executed the same day.

One roommate, 20-year-old Nathan Daniel Brumbaugh, was at the apartment during the search and arrested for an outstanding warrant. It was his room that kept the agents and other officers busy, according to a criminal complaint that was filed last week.

A couple of bongs, several suspected pot pipes, another pot grinder and two street signs that were possibly taken from Eden Prairie were the first items found, the complaint said. Then several containers filled with suspected marijuana, including one labeled “Colorado,” were found.

Eventually, several individually wrapped baggies of suspected marijuana were found. A piece of paper labeled that stash, which added up to just more than a pound, as “stinky pink,” investigators reported. All of the suspected marijuana that was found added up to nearly 20 ounces.

In addition to the marijuana and drug paraphernalia, agents confiscated $770 in cash. Brumbaugh, who is facing felony drug possession and sales charges, was released from jail Wednesday after posting a $10,000 bond.

A second roommate was issued a petty misdemeanor citation for drug paraphernalia possession.