A Keokuk business has been seized by the Lee County Narcotics Task Force in connection with the Saturday arrest of Brian W. Boyd, 47, of Burlington and Tyson S. Waetzig, 34, of Keokuk on money laundering charges.
Bright yellow placards were placed on every door of Boyd’s store, Big River Pawn and Gun, 30 S. 12th St., proclaiming ownership by the task force and warning that trespassors will be prosecuted. Padlocks secure each entrance.
Lee County Attorney Michael Short said this morning that the arrests are the result of an ongoing undercover operation by the task force and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
“We and the ATF had been conducting an extensive investigation using felons to buy firearms and our agents to buy bath salts,” Short said. “This all blew up Friday night when Tyson Waetzig and Brian Boyd had a parting of the ways.”
Waetzig turned in his gederal girearms license to the ATF, which eventually led to all of the firearms being confiscated, Short said. Boyd is a convicted felon and as such is not allowed to own guns. Waetzig had provided the firearms license that allowed the firearms to be sold from the store.
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