A St. Paul couple who are the founders of a drug recovery organization are connected to a drug case involving a Mexico-based trafficking organization, according to a criminal complaint in Ramsey County District Court. Both are facing two counts of felony drug charges.

Xianna Moua Yang and her husband, Yeng Moua, are each charged with one first-degree felony charge of selling or aiding in the selling of 17 grams or more of cocaine or methamphetamine within 90 days and one first-degree felony charge of possessing 50 grams or more of cocaine or methamphetamine. Earlier in the month, Moua Yang, 37, was found with her 40-year-old husband in a car containing 3 pounds of illicit drugs. Their bail is each set at $150,000.

‘Helping others’ while in recovery

The couple opened their nonprofit, Koom Recovery, in 2024, and said their mission was to help Hmong people in Minnesota recover from substance abuse disorder, as people who have struggled with addiction themselves.

SMALL FILE — MAX. WIDTH FOR PRINT: 3 INCHES — Xianna Moua Yang, 37, was charged Jan. 8, 2026, in Ramsey County with two felony counts of drug possession and sale, for picking up drugs from someone in connection with a Mexican drug trafficking organization police had been investigating for months, during the evening of Jan. 8, 2026. (Courtesy of Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)

According to the criminal complaint, on Jan. 8, officers watched as Moua Yang and Moua drove to a Minneapolis hotel. A Hispanic man came out of the hotel with a black suitcase and wheeled it to the car, placing it in the back seat, according to the complaint.

Officers followed the car to the East Side of St. Paul, where they conducted a traffic stop, according to the complaint.

According to the charges, Minnesota agencies have been investigating a Mexico-based drug trafficking organization, “DTO,” for several months. Two other people were identified by law enforcement as “associates of DTO,” or “runners” who deliver drugs to people on behalf of the organization.

Earlier on the same day that Moua Yang and Moua were observed at the Minneapolis hotel, the two runners identified by officers were seen there interacting with a man who wheeled out a suitcase to their car. The two runners were later found with 3 pounds of drugs, which tested positive for methamphetamine, according to the complaint.

When officers stopped Moua Yang and Moua, who was driving, he was asked if he had drugs or firearms with him. He replied that he “did not know.” Moua told officers he was on his way to “help people,” and that he and his wife were on their way home. He said he was recently off probation for controlled substances and firearms and that he and his wife are in recovery, according to the complaint.

SMALL FILE — MAX. WIDTH FOR PRINT: 3 INCHES — Yeng Moua, 40, was charged Jan. 8, 2026, in Ramsey County with two felony counts of aiding with drug possession and sale, after picking up drugs from someone in connection with a Mexican drug trafficking organization police had been investigating for months, during the evening of Jan. 8, 2026. (Courtesy of Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)

Moua later told officers that he did not know anything illegal was in the car. He said that “he moves things for people but does not go through the things.”

Moua Yang told officers that the “stuff” in the car was hers and that her husband had nothing to do with it.

Officers found 3 pounds of drugs that tested positive for methamphetamine in a black garbage bag that was ripped open and had identical packaging as the drugs recovered in the runners’ car, according to the charges.

Moua Yang and Moua were arrested on suspicion of drug possession.

‘Knows what she is doing is wrong’

Moua Yang later told an officer that she participated in two drug runs for a Hispanic man she knows as “Layo,” according to the complaint. She told officers that she needed money and “knows what she is doing is wrong, as she is a drug counselor and a recovered drug addict.”

Moua Yang said “Layo” contacted her using a Mexican telephone number and told her where to pick up and deliver the drugs. Moua Yang told police that every time she moves the drugs, she receives $1,000.

According to the charges, Moua Yang told her husband before the drug exchange at the hotel that they were on the way to pick up donations for people experiencing homelessness. When Moua saw that the “donations” in question were drugs, he became angry, the charges said. The two argued, and while her husband drove the car, Moua Yang “crawled into the back seat, took the drugs out of the suitcase, and put them in the garbage bag.”

Moua Yang’s next court hearing will be held Wednesday. Moua’s next hearing will take place March 4.

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By MORGAN LEE and SAVANNAH PETERS

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A judge has ordered that actor Timothy Busfield be released from jail during a detention hearing on child sex abuse charges.

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The order Tuesday by state district court Judge David Murphy is linked to accusations that Busfield inappropriately touching a minor while working as a director on the set of the series “The Cleaning Lady.”

The judge ordered that the defendant was released on his own recognizance, pending trial. Busfield will be supervised upon release by a pretrial service in Albuquerque, and can leave the state to live at home, the judge said.

Busfield, an Emmy Award-winning actor who is known for appearances in “The West Wing,” “Field of Dreams” and “Thirtysomething,” was ordered held without bond last week at his first court appearance. Busfield called the allegations lies in a video shared before he turned himself in.

At the hearing Tuesday, Busfield was handcuffed and dressed in an orange jail uniform at the hearing in a New Mexico state district court, while wife and actor Melissa Gilbert watched from the court gallery.

Gilbert was tearful while exiting the courtroom after the judge ordered Busfield’s release.

Gilbert, who played Laura Ingalls in the 1970s to ’80s TV series “Little House on the Prairie,” is on the list of potential witness submitted ahead of the hearing.

Albuquerque police issued a warrant for Busfield’s arrest earlier this month on two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse. A criminal complaint alleges the acts occurred on the set of the series “The Cleaning Lady.”

According to the criminal complaint, an investigator with the police department says the child reported Busfield touched him on private areas over his clothing on one occasion when he was 7 years old and another time when he was 8. The boy’s twin brother told authorities he was also touched by Busfield, but did not specify where. He said he didn’t say anything because he didn’t want to get in trouble.

On Monday, Busfield’s attorneys submitted two brief audio recordings of initial police interviews in which the children say Busfield did not touch them in private areas. The attorneys in a court filing argue that the complaint characterizes the interviews as a failure to disclose abuse, but an “unequivocal denial is materially different from a mere absence of disclosure.”

According to the criminal complaint, one of the boys disclosed during a therapy session that he was inappropriately touched by the show’s director. Those records were obtained by police during the investigation.

Arguing Tuesday for Busfield’s continued detention, Assistant District Attorney Savannah Brandenburg-Koch called evidence of abuse against Busfield strong and specific.

“The boys’ allegation are supported by medical findings and by their therapist,” Brandenburg-Koch said. “Their accounts were specific and not exaggerated.”

She also described a documented pattern of sexual misconduct, abuse of authority and grooming behavior by Busfield over the past three decades. Prosecutors also say witnesses have expressed fear regarding retaliation and professional harm.

“GPS is not going to tell this court if he is around children or talking to witnesses,” Brandenburg-Koch said.

Busfield’s attorneys have argued that the allegations emerged only after the boys lost their role in the TV show, creating a financial and retaliatory motive. The filings detailed what the attorneys said was a history of fraud by both the boys’ father and mother. They cited an investigation by Warner Bros. into the allegations that found the allegations unfounded.

Busfield also submitted letters vouching for his character, and his attorneys say he passed an independent polygraph test.

Legal experts say New Mexico is among a few states that allow polygraph evidence in criminal cases, but a judge has final say over whether one can be used. There are strict requirements for admission.

Morgan reported from Santa Fe, New Mexico.

MONTREAL — The Wild have confirmed they are shutting down Jonas Brodin because of a lingering lower body injury, and further that the defenseman won’t be playing for Sweden in the 2026 Winter Olympics next month.

Brodin missed his fourth straight game Tuesday when the Wild played the Canadiens at Bell Centre.

Wild coach John Hynes, who serve as an assistant coach for Team USA at the Milan Cortina Games, confirmed a published report that Brodin is being shut down and will not play in Italy.

Brodin has three goals and 12 assists in 42 games for the Wild, who entered Tuesday’s game with 65 points, second-best in the NHL behind Central Division rival Colorado. Wild center Joel Eriksson Ek also is missing time with an injury, but Hynes said he was hoping he may get some good news when the team returns to Minnesota.

With both Wild goalies, Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt, headed overseas to play in Milan Cortina, there is still a sense that the Swedes will be in the thick of the fight, although they also are likely to be without Ducks forward Leo Carlsson, also with a lower body injury.

Another Swedish standout, Maple Leafs forward William Nylander, missed Monday’s loss to the Wild and his Olympic status is unknown.

“I know all the treatment guys around every team here in the NHL is so good that hopefully they can get them back in shape and go there,” Gustavsson said after beating the Maple Leafs on Monday. “If it happens they can’t be there, Sweden’s got a lot of good players in the NHL. We’re going to be just fine.”

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By ROD McGUIRK

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia’s Parliament on Tuesday passed anti-hate speech and gun laws proposed after two shooters killed 15 people at a Jewish festival in Sydney last month in an attack that authorities say was inspired by the Islamic State group.

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The gun laws create new restrictions on gun ownership and create a government-funded buyback program to compensate people forced to hand in their firearms.

Anti-hate speech laws enable groups that don’t fit Australia’s definition of a terrorist organization, such as the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, to be outlawed. Hizb ut-Tahrir is already outlawed by some countries.

The government had initially planned a single bill, but separated the issues into two bills introduced to the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

Both bills initially passed the House, where the center-left Labor Party government holds a majority of seats. The firearms bill was the first to be passed by the Senate, where no party holds a majority, with a 38-to-26 vote. The anti-hate speech bill followed with a 38-to-22 vote in the 76-seat upper chamber.

Earlier Tuesday, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told Parliament that alleged gunmen Sajid Akram, 50, and his 24-year-old son Naveed Akram wouldn’t have been allowed to possess guns under the proposed laws.

The father, who was shot dead by police during the attack on Jewish worshippers during Hanukkah celebrations at Bondi Beach on Dec. 14, legally owned the guns used.

His son, who was wounded, has been charged with dozens of offenses, including 15 counts of murder and one of committing a terrorist act over the attack.

Burke said that the Indian-born father would have been barred from gun ownership under the proposed laws because he wasn’t an Australian citizen. The Australian-born son would also been banned, because he had come under surveillance from the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, or ASIO, spy agency in 2019 over his association with suspected extremists.

“In responding to the antisemitic terror attack, we need to deal with the motivation and we need to deal with the method,” Burke told Parliament. “We are dealing with two people there who had horrific antisemitic bigotry in their minds and in their hearts. And they had weapons they should not have had.”

ASIO also has a role under the new anti-hate speech laws in deciding which hate groups should be outlawed. Neo-Nazi group National Socialist Network has announced plans to disband rather than have its members targeted under the laws.

The opposition Nationals party had opposed the anti-hate speech legislation, arguing it could impinge on free speech.

“The legislation needs amendments to guarantee greater protections against unintended consequences that limit the rights and freedom of speech of everyday Australians and the Jewish community,” Nationals leader David Littleproud said in a statement late Tuesday.

Parliament had been scheduled to resume for the year in February, but was brought back early to respond to Australia’s worst mass shooting since 1996.

A lone shooter killed 35 people in Tasmania state that year, in a massacre that galvanized the nation into introducing tough gun laws that drastically reduced the number of rapid-fire weapons in public ownership. The government then bought back almost 700,000 guns.

But the states of Tasmania and Queensland and the Northern Territory are resisting the federal push for a new gun buyback, for which the states and territories would be expected to pay half the cost.

Burke said his government would continue to negotiate with the states and territories on the buyback.