A 44-year-old Golden Valley man is facing two first-degree drug charges after investigators say they found roughly 59.6 pounds of methamphetamine, nearly two pounds of cocaine, and $16,976 in cash inside an apartment near Seeman Park. Eric Prince Holton Jr. was formally charged in Hennepin County District Court, and a judge set his bail at $500,000 following his court appearance.
The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office West Metro Drug Task Force executed a search warrant on August 25 at an apartment on the 6500 block of Golden Valley Road, according to FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul. Holton was present when officers arrived, along with an adult female and two children, though the station reports the apartment itself was rented by an associate of Holton's, not by Holton himself. Detectives had reportedly been conducting physical and electronic surveillance on Holton for weeks before the warrant was executed, per Limitless Media News, which helped investigators connect him to the unit despite the lease being in someone else's name.
Officers found a black backpack containing multiple bags of methamphetamine and cocaine, along with three digital scales, the station's report states. Additional bags of methamphetamine turned up in a large hallway suitcase and in the master bedroom bathroom, while more cocaine was found under the bathroom sink. Investigators also recovered multiple cell phones. In total, the task force logged 27,042 grams of methamphetamine and 882.72 grams of cocaine, and representative drug samples field tested positive.
Holton Allegedly Admitted Ownership of the Drugs and Cash
Holton was reportedly observed carrying a black backpack matching the one found with the methamphetamine and cocaine inside. According to the outlet's account, he admitted to possessing the methamphetamine and cocaine recovered from the apartment and told officers the $16,976 in cash also belonged to him. Holton said he did not currently have a job, the report notes. Investigators believe the drug quantities recovered indicate Holton intended to sell the narcotics rather than use them personally.
Holton has three prior felony drug convictions, including first-degree drug possession in June 2012, first-degree drug possession in December 2019, and third-degree drug possession in February 2023, per the same account. He now faces two counts of Aggravated Controlled Substance Crime in the First Degree with aggravating factors under Minnesota Statute § 152.021.2b(2), according to the Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Each first-degree charge carries a maximum sentence of 40 years and a maximum fine of $1 million.
Charge Carries Minnesota's Steepest Drug Sentencing Exposure
A conviction on Aggravated Controlled Substance Crime in the First Degree carries a presumptive statutory mandatory minimum prison sentence of 86 months, or just over seven years, under the same statute. Aggravated first-degree controlled substance crimes sit at severity level D9, the highest severity classification for drug offenses under Minnesota's sentencing guidelines, according to McDonough Law. It remains unclear whether prosecutors intend to identify or charge the associate who rented the apartment, and it is not known whether federal authorities will pursue additional charges given the volume of narcotics involved.
The seizure represents a significant chunk of the task force's annual haul. The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office West Metro Drug Task Force removed 221 pounds of methamphetamine, 40 pounds of cocaine, and 26 pounds of fentanyl from local streets throughout all of 2025, according to FOX 9's earlier reporting on task force operations. The roughly 59.6 pounds pulled from this single Golden Valley apartment amounts to more than a quarter of everything the task force seized in meth over the entire previous year.
Part of a Larger Regional Enforcement Push
The West Metro Drug Task Force operates as a multijurisdictional unit combining the former Southwest Hennepin Drug Task Force and West Metro Drug Task Force under Hennepin County Sheriff's Office leadership, with funding tied to the state's Violent Crime Enforcement Team grant program, according to City of Hopkins records. It is one piece of a broader regional enforcement effort — in June 2025, federal authorities and the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office executed search warrants across eight Twin Cities metro locations, seizing more than 900 pounds of methamphetamine valued between $22 million and $25 million, as reported by KARE 11.
Statewide, Minnesota's Violent Crime Enforcement Teams saw a 640% increase in annual methamphetamine seizures over a five-year period, making meth the most frequently seized illicit drug in the state's task force operations. Locally, Hennepin County estimates more than 80,000 adult residents live with substance use disorders, and the county allocates over $4 million annually in property tax revenue toward behavioral health and addiction services to address the fallout.
