Joplin woman indicted on meth trafficking, weapons charges

A grand jury indicted a Joplin woman on charges of meth trafficking and possession of a weapon in furtherance of drug trafficking. The indictment was unsealed today in U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

The indictment against Tiffany Nicole Henson-Bruenn, 37, stems from a March 20 Joplin Police Department traffic stop. The Jasper County Prosecuting Attorney's office filed drug trafficking charges against Henson-Bruenn at that time.

From the probable cause statement in the Jasper County case:

On 03/20/2024 Tiffany Henson-Bruenn was stopped by the Joplin Police Department at East Broadway Street and North Cox Ave operating a 2015 Jeep Cherokee (MO XH1-C3D), for multiple traffic violations. Tiffany was the sole occupant of the vehicle. 

During the stop Police K-9 was utilized. Once the Police K-9 alerted to the Jeep, a subsequent hand search of the vehicle was conducted. 

During the hand search of the vehicle a black pistol was located. The pistol is a Ruger EC9s 9mm. Serial Number: 461-76488. The pistol was claimed by Tiffany. She advised it is registered to her. Also, during the hand search of the Jeep, a Victoria’s Secret bag was located. 

Inside the Victoria'd Secret bag was a large amount of suspected individually bagged Methamphetamine. There were fourteen individual bags that were later weighed. Each of the 14 bags weighed right about one ounce each. There was also one large Ziploc bag. Inside the large bag was 3 large rocks of suspected Methamphetamine. The large bag weighed 380.41 grams. The total weight of all the suspected Methamphetamine weighed 787.14 grams or 1.74 pounds. Tiffany also had 3,330 dollars in cash on her person. 

Once Tiffany was transported to the Joplin City Jail, a strip search of her person was conducted by Jail Staff. Jail Staff located 2.5 grams of suspected Methamphetamine inside Tiffany’s vagina during the strip search.

Henson-Bruenn's initial court appearance was held today. Her arraignment is scheduled for Monday, with a detention hearing on Tuesday. The government is asking that Henson-Brueen be held without bond.