SCHALLER, IOWA – Cops raided a Northern Iowa house and found a marijuana growing and distributing operation.
United States Postal Inspectors had intercepted packages being delivered to the occupants of 407 East 3rd Street, Schaller, Iowa. These packages contained suspected THC edibles. Postal Inspectors notified the sheriff’s office when these packages would be delivered to the Post Office in Schaller, Iowa. Detectives conducted surveillance, and determined the packages were picked up by 28-year-old Juliette Munoz. After the packages had been picked up and taken to 407 East 3rd Street, Schaller, Iowa, detectives executed two separate search warrants on Tuesday February 28, 2023. The house located at 407 East 3rd Street in Schaller, and an outbuilding located behind 407 East 3rd Street on a separate parcel of land were searched by law enforcement for controlled substances.
Located in the home were three firearms including a short, barreled rifle, over seven-thousand dollars in cash, THC vapes, THC wax and THC edibles, three growing marijuana plants, loose marijuana, and suspected psylocibin mushrooms. In the outbuilding, law enforcement located items that would suggest that marijuana was being manufactured into THC wax. Large mason jars and vacuum sealed bags of marijuana were located as well as a hydraulic press, THC wax, shipping containers and more THC edibles. Evidence would suggest that the manufactured THC wax and edible items were being re-labeled and distributed through the mail.
Two persons have been arrested. 28-year-old Juliette Munoz was taken into custody at her home at 407 East 3rd Street, Schaller, Iowa at the time of the search. She has been initially charged with possession with intent to distribute marijuana. 28-year-old Cesar Omar Gonzalez-Ballesteros was not at his home at 407 East 3rd Street, Schaller, Iowa at the time of the search. Ballesteros turned himself in to law enforcement on the evening of February 28, 2023. Ballesteros has been charged with possession with intent to deliver marijuana, failure to affix a drug tax stamp and possession of a short barreled rifle. All charges are class “D” felonies.
Munoz and Ballesteros have since bonded out of the Sac County Jail.
This investigation is on-going with additional criminal charges expected. United State Postal Inspectors assisted the Sac County Sheriff’s Office in this investigation.
