Missoula Crime Report: Two ‘Very Large’ Drug Trafficking Cases

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - The Missoula County Attorney’s Office filed 18 felony complaints this week, which is the same as last week and right around the weekly average. According to County Attorney Matt Jennings, almost all of those were in custody on arrest. 

“Surprisingly, two times this week we had no new arrests,” Jennings said. “So, what that means is we had five really busy days and two kind of quiet days, which makes life interesting. In our 18 felony complaints, 9 of those were violent crimes, and that's a lot. That's always something that we're tracking. We prioritize violent crimes and those against persons. We are always looking for trends and the reasons underlying that.” 

In addition, Jennings said there were four endangerment crimes, which almost always involve drugs and alcohol and driving, or putting other people in danger. 

“In our four drug crimes, two of those were very large trafficking cases involving almost eight or 9,000 doses of methamphetamine, heroin, and fentanyl,” Jennings said. “Those are extremely concerning because we're worried about starting to get some of that trafficking and cartel activity here in Missoula, which blessedly, we've been able to avoid for the most part in the past.” 

READ MORE: Missoula Drug Bust: 5,000 Fentanyl Pills and 1.5 Pounds of Meth

Jennings said there was also one administrative crime. He added that four of the nine violent crimes this week were family violence involving domestic partners. 

“A couple of these involved gun violence and threats to control other individuals and the victims in those circumstances,” Jennings said. “That type of behavior is a huge sign of potential additional violence in the future. So, it is a top priority in our office. Then three of them were non-family violence and two were sex crimes. Those were the two cases that were charged out of custody. So, it was a really busy week.” 

The Missoula County Attorney’s Office provides a weekly crime report every Friday morning at 9:00 on Talk Back. You can listen to Jennings’ full report below: