Drug Task Force Dismantles Large Drug Trafficking Ring After Great Falls Meth ... - KFBB NewsChannel 5

Drug Task Force officials tell ABC 5 they've dismantled a large drug trafficking organization in Great Falls, making a dent in the amount of drugs being imported into Montana.

Two people were arrested and charged after a meth bust in the early morning hours.

47-year-old Tammy Lapie and 52-year-old Robert Boucher are both charged with felony criminal possession of dangerous drugs with intent to distribute and misdemeanor criminal possession of drug paraphernalia.

The bust comes after months of investigation, according to court documents the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force used a confidential informant to conduct two controlled buys with Boucher in September and one of the transactions took place at Lapie's home.

Boucher's bail was set at $20,000 dollars and Lapie's bail was set at $10,000.

Russell Country Drug Task Force Commander Chris Hickman says Boucher allegedly transported large quantities of meth from Spokane, Washington on a weekly basis to Great Falls, Montana.

Both Boucher and Lapie were arrested after a search warrant was executed around 2:00 AM at a home on the 1100 block of 3rd Avenue South but due to an elaborate home surveillance system at Lapie's home and the fact that police believed the people inside the house were known to carry weapons, a High Risk Unit was called in.

Just as officers were preparing to execute the warrant, Boucher exited Lapie's residence and left in a vehicle. He was later stopped by an officer and arrested.

Officials say the 1100 block of 3rd Avenue South is a good, solid neighborhood.

"Not a normal sound in the neighborhood," says Dennis Greenwood.
So when residents like Dennis Greenwood were startled in the middle of the night, this normally peaceful community was shocked. "Just after 2:00 AM I heard three bangs," he says.

Those bangs were flash bang devices used by a GFPD High Risk Unit and the Russell Country Drug Task Force to enter Tammy Lapie's home - believed to be part of a methamphetamine drug trafficking ring.

"We know that they are responsible for bringing in multiple ounces if not pounds of methamphetamine into Great Falls, what we recovered last night represents probably about $10,000 dollars worth of methamphetamine," says Hickman.

When Greenwood hears the amount of meth seized from the home, just two doors down from where he resides he tell us he is shocked.
When officers searched Lapie's home they found; digital scales, thousands of dollars in cash, meth pipes, packaging materials, a firearm and three ounces of meth.

"Fairly sophisticated group, bringing in what we consider in relative terms a significant amount of meth and by virtue, by essentially dismantling this element of the organization and putting these people in jail we feel like that's meets some impact on availability of the drug," says Hickman.

Russell Country Drug Task Force Commander Chris Hickman calls this incident a "significant arrest" but attributes some of Montana's meth problem to the drug cartels of Mexico.
"In Montana situation if you will, there's a tremendous market, there's tremendous demand for meth and the reason it's so available is that these folks in these cartels know what methamphetamine can be sold at in places like Great Falls, Montana," adds the Drug Task Force Commander.

And according to Hickman, the arrests are far from over - he says this was an "elaborate, sophisticated group involving many other people."
"There should be a lot of people concerned in this community right now who have been involved with this group about their future," adds Hickman.