Joplin man indicted on federal meth charge

The indictment of a Joplin man on a federal methamphetamine trafficking charge was unsealed today in U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

The charge against Christopher Wayne Boone, 42, stems from two traffic stops, according to the probable cause affidavit filed after the initial arrest August 13.

On August 3, the Missouri State Highway Patrol stopped a Ford Escape as part of an ongoing methamphetamine distribution investigation.

The occupants of the vehicle, Boone and Destiny M. Bush, had been stopped in the same vehicle on I-44 near Joplin July 30. Five pounds of methamphetamine were seized.

From the probable cause affidavit:

During a post-Miranda interview on July 30, 2025, Boone admitted making numerous trips to both St. Louis, Missouri and Tulsa, Oklahoma, to resupply with methamphetamine for distribution in the Joplin, Webb City and surrounding Missouri area.

On August 1, 2025, Boone met with investigators to discuss the return of his cellular telephone. During the meeting, Boone voluntarily told investigators that his St. Louis, Missouri source of methamphetamine supply was pressuring him to make a trip to St. Louis over the weekend to resupply with methamphetamine. Investigators instructed Boone not to travel to St. Louis.

Following the August 1, 2025 meeting with Boone, investigators received information from a reliable confidental informant that Boone and Bush were collecting money and would be making an evening trip on Saturday, August 2, 2025, to St. Louis, Missouri, to resupply with methamphetamine.

The confidential informant has been proven reliable by providing information that investigators have been able to corroborate through follow-up investigation. In addition, the confidential informant has previously provided information that has led to the seizure of methamphetamine from Boone.

On August 3, 2025, at approximately 0159 hours, Trooper Blue observed the Ford Escape being followed by MSHP investigators on westbound Interstate 44. At approximately 0200 hours, Trooper Blue initiated a traffic stop on the Escape. The Escape stopped on the north shoulder of westbound Interstate 44 at the 24-mile marker in Jasper County.

The driver, Bush, and passenger, Boone, were removed from the Escape and detained. A free air sniff by a Joplin, Missouri Police Department canine positively detected the odor of a narcotics inside the Escape.

A probable cause search of the Escape resulted in the seizure of five one-gallon sized zip lock bags, each containing approximately one pound of a crystal substance that field tested positive for methamphetamine, an amount in excess of 500 grams. The bags containing the crystal substance were located inside of a Walmart sack on the backseat floorboard.