By: Taylor Bowden / Assistant News Director

A search warrant in Minneapolis uncovered a stash of drugs and cash meant for distribution around central Minnesota.

The Central Minnesota Violent Offender Task Force (CMVOTF) announced that they found four pounds of methamphetamine and more than $15,000 in cash tied to 49-year-old Gerald Frank Ciesco of Minneapolis.

It is believed that Ciesco was hiring “wholesale” distributors that could efficiently and quickly carry large quantities of methamphetamine in and around central Minnesota.

On September 30, investigators from the CMVOTF, FBI, the FBI SWAT team, Hennepin County Violent Offender Task Force, and the Minneapolis Police Department all helped in executing the search warrant at Ciesco’s home in Minneapolis.

Investigators working with the Stearns County Attorney’s Office believed there is enough evidence to charge Ciesco and others with 1st degree conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.