Carl Junction businesswoman waives preliminary hearing on drug trafficking, DWI, bound over for trial

A Carl Junction businesswoman waived her preliminary hearing Tuesday in Jasper County Circuit Court and was bound over for trial on drug trafficking and driving while intoxicated charges.

Lauren Ann Zallar, 36, head of E&P Wireless, will be arraigned in the trial division 9 a.m. August 21.

The Carl Junction Police Department arrested Zallar following a January 11 traffic stop on Copper Oaks.

The alleged crimes are detailed in the probable cause statement:

On January 11th, 2023 at about O120 hours while on patrol I observed a silver SUV leave the lane of travel and go into the oncoming traffic lane while southbound in the 500 block of Copper Oaks. I conducted a traffic stop of the vehicle in the 600 block of Copper Oaks and identified the driver as Zallar, Lauren.

Upon making contact with Zallar, I noticed her speech was slurred and she seemed to have difficulty answering simple questions. Zallar denied using any alcohol or illegal substances. Zallar gave me consent to search the vehicle.

Inside the center console, I located two clear bags filled with a white powdery substance that with my training and experience I believed to be fentanyl. I also located a pill bottle with a worn-off label containing 45 blue pills with "M" marked on one side and "30" on the other.


A quick search of drugs.com indicated the pills were Oxycodone.

A second article populated showing an example of a counterfeit Oxycodone that was actually fentanyl. I compared the two images with the pills in question. The pills matched the counterfeit picture.

Also located were 5 $1 dollar bills with a white powdery substance, one blue cap with a white substance, and one red straw with a white residue inside of it. The two bags weighed in at a combined weight of 13.2 grams.

Part of one of the blue pills was field tested for Oxycodone and the test indicated no presence of Oxycodone. Zaller was taken into custody for the located items and for driving while impaired. A DRE (drug recognition expert) was contacted and met with Zallar. The DRE conducted an evaluation on Zallar and the results indicated that Zallar was under the influence.