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Townsend Resident Charged with Drug Possession and Distribution
Author: mt43news staff reporter

MT43 News Staff Reporter

In last week’s Facebook Post, Broadwater County Sheriff Mark Wood hailed an April 15 charge against a Townsend man as the largest drug and weapons seizure in Broadwater County’s history.

The man arrested April 5th is Dwight Robert Murdough, according to District Court documents. He is charged with 2 counts of intent to distribute cocaine and psilocybin mushrooms, a 3rd count of possession of morphine, and a 4th count of a stolen firearm.

Sheriff Wood pointed out the seizure included ½ pound cocaine, morphine pills, 1 pound psilocybin mushrooms, three handguns, two rifles, a shotgun, an AK-47, and ammunition.

According to the charging documents, Deputies Richard McBride and Bryson Rowe were patrolling on Highway 287 near the Silos area at about 1:30 a.m. when they stopped a truck traveling over the nighttime speed limit. After a search warrant was issued, the K9 dog Aki and his handler Chase Rasmusen found cocaine in the truck. The driver of the truck, Christian Farley, was not charged. His passenger, Murdough, was well known to law enforcement, Wood added.

Based on evidence found in the truck, Officer McBride applied to the on-call First Judicial District Court Judge Michael Menahan for a warrant to search Murdough’s home at 15 Henwood Drive near Antelope Road. With a granted warrant to enter, McBride, Rowe, Rasmussen and the K9 dog searched Murdough’s locked home, after entering through an open window, where they found an AK-47 rifle, several more handguns, one of which was reported stolen out of a vehicle in Lewis & Clark County, and 2500 rounds of ammunition. They also located the mushrooms, morphine pills, and the ½ pound of cocaine.

Murdough is currently incarcerated at the Broadwater County Detention Center and awaits his pretrial hearing set for October 16.

Wood pointed out Broadwater County sits in the middle of a drug-trafficking lane with people traveling between Bozeman, Helena and Great Falls using Highway 287 as an off-the-beaten-path to evade law enforcement: “As your Sheriff, I will continue to support proactive patrols and aggressive enforcement against drug trafficking,” he said.

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PhotoCredit: photos provided.
Image 1 Caption: Drugs and weapons confiscated during April 15 arrest by Broadwater County Sheriff's Officers. Photo Provided
Image 2 Caption: Aki the K9 drug dog with drugs, weapons and cell phones confiscated at the April 15 arrest. Photo Provided