Officer Discovers Drugs While Checking River Camps In Missoula

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - On July 3, 2025, a Missoula Police Department officer was conducting an extra patrol shift near the riverbank located near 501 N. California Street to enforce camping in the city. No camping is allowed within 50 feet of the high-water mark for the Clark Fork River. At approximately 12:20 pm, the officer located a camp along the riverbank, which was occupied by five individuals. A tent was erected within 50 feet of the Clark Fork River.  

While identifying the individuals and warning them of the violation, one of the occupants, 34-year-old Brandon Kelly, returned as having an active Probation & Parole No Bond warrant. Another officer responded to assist and escorted Kelly to his patrol vehicle. According to court documents, Kelly had a bag on his person and initially requested that a female friend take it. 

Then the officer contacted the on-call Probation & Parole Officer, who requested that the officers conduct a search of Kelly’s bag. While searching Kelly’s bag, the officer located a sunglass case. From his training and experience with searching for drugs and drug paraphernalia, the officer is aware that persons who use drugs tend to safeguard their items in small hard cases to prevent glass pipes from breaking.  

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Officer Locates Potential Drugs 

The officer opened the sunglass case and located a used cylindrical glass pipe with burnt white residue. Then the officer located a new cylindrical pipe wrapped in bubble wrap. Then the officer located a small plastic baggie containing a white crystallized substance that he believed to be Methamphetamine, which was found in a zipped-up pocket of his bag.  

The officer tested the crystallized substance with TruNarc, a handheld narcotics identification system, and it tested positive for Methamphetamine. The officer also tested the substance with a NIK test, which also returned presumptive positive for Methamphetamine. 

READ MORE: Missoula News – Crime Reports 

Kelly was read a Miranda Waraning, after which he voluntarily admitted that the crystal substance was “crystal meth.” Kelly was arrested and transported to the Missoula County Detention Facility. He is currently being charged with felony criminal possession of dangerous drugs and criminal possession of drug paraphernalia. His bond was set at $10,000 for the probation violation. 

The information in this article was obtained from sources that are publicly viewable.