Cloquet police and others follow meth trail as far as Pine County

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Cloquet police wrapped up another multi-agency operation last week that resulted in the arrest of three men for the sale and/or purchase of methamphetamine.

Dale Lavern Casler Jr., 46, of Cloquet was charged with felony controlled substance crime in the first degree in Carlton County Court Aug. 26. Randall Eugene Cook, 34, of Pine County was charged with first-degree sale of methamphetamine and second-degree possession of methamphetamine. A third man, Jeffery Eric Bistodeau, 50, of Pine County, was charged with fifth-degree possession of methamphetamine. The charges for both Bistodeau and Cook are being handled through Pine County Court.

It was a case of putting the pieces together.

Casler’s criminal complaint states that a person cooperating with the Cloquet Police Department made three different meth “controlled buys” from Casler on Aug. 15. The first purchase was for 1.75 grams of meth in exchange for $250, the second was for three grams for $400 and the third was for 3.5 grams for $500.

A week later, the same person purchased an additional three grams of the drug from Casler, for a total of 11 grams, according to the complaint.

Through the investigation officers were also able to identify the Pine County resident selling the drugs to Casler himself, Deputy Cloquet Police Chief Terry Hill said in a press release last week.

Hill said the approximate street value of the methamphetamine seized during the investigation – including all three arrests – was $10,000.

If he is convicted, the charge carries a maximum sentence of 30 years and/or a $1 million fine for a first violation. Casler did plead guilty to possession of more than 1.4 grams of marijuana in a motor vehicle in October 2010, a misdemeanor.

Casler’s next Carlton County Court appearance is set for 9 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 14.

The Cloquet Police Department was assisted throughout the investigation by the Carlton County Sheriff’s Department, Minnesota State Patrol, Moose Lake Police Department and Pine County Sheriff’s Department.

Tags: carlton county, pine county, news, updates, crime, drugs, cloquet