Raid west of Twin Cities yields drugs, AR-15 and a working cannon; couple charged

Drug agents pulled off a surprise predawn raid on a couple’s remote residential property west of the Twin Cities and seized illicit drugs, more than $5,000 in cash, guns and a working cannon with all the accessories needed to fire the weapon, authorities said.

Task force agents raided the property and recovered several shotguns, an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle and magazines for the weapon, more rifles and a revolver, according to a search warrant affidavit filed with the court Monday afternoon.

Also seized: packaged and loose methamphetamine in many locations totaling nearly 2 ounces; marijuana, suspected LSD and drug paraphernalia; surveillance cameras; a Taser; ammunition, and $1,162 taken from the man and $4,471 from a safe in a shed.

Also recovered was a ledger that “appeared to be a record of past illegal transactions concerning the buying or selling of controlled substances,” read the charges, which characterized the raid as a “night time, no-knock” operation.
[snip]

Outside the shed, agents confiscated the homemade cannon standing roughly 3 feet tall on two wheels and with a hitch, task force Cmdr. Ross Ardoff said Tuesday.

“All the proper parts were there,” the sergeant said, “a range estimator on the side, and inside the shed were a few cannon balls about the size of cue balls.” He said it appeared the cannon had been fired recently. Mud and leaves were on its wheels, indicating it had been pulled around the farm.