Joplin man, Aryan Brotherhood gang member, charged with meth possession, intent to distribute

A Joplin man was charged in U. S. District Court today with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.

DEA Springfield and the Ozarks Drug Task Force had Benjamin Ray Nordby under surveillance after he recently moved from northeast Oklahoma to Joplin. Nordby had been identified by the DEA in Tulsa as retail supplier and distributor of methamphetamine, according to the probable cause affidavit.

Nordby was also a member of a prison gang, the Universal Aryan Brotherhood, the affidavit indicated.

A mobile surveillance was set up after Nordby was seen leaving his home Monday night. A Joplin Police Department officer stopped him after observing a traffic violation at 2000 W. 7th.

Officers found 224 grams of meth in the vehicle. Nordby and his passenger, Amanda Meister, were taken into custody, with both denying they knew anything about the meth.

During an interview Tuesday, Nordby acknowledged the meth belonged to him and he was planning to deliver it to Miami, Oklahoma, according to the affidavit.