NUMBER OF TIPS, SUSPECTS UP FOR DRUG TASK FORCE

The number of intelligence reports from the public and members of law
enforcements agencies has increased dramatically to the Tri-Agency Task Force.

The agency processed 893 intelligence reports in the last fiscal year. The
intelligence reports detail information the three members of TATF receive
about suspected drug activity.

The group had set a goal last year of collecting 130 intelligence reports
each quarter of last fiscal year but found it had trouble reaching that goal.

A spokesman for the task force gave the public a lot of credit for the big
increase this year. Also, task force members make a point of reminding
officers from other law enforcement agencies, on the local, state and
federal levels, to share information about suspected activity.

But a lot of the increase "is attributed to more public reporting," said
the spokesman, who works undercover and asked not to be named.

"Nobody is turning a blind eye anymore," he said. The public is calling in
with information and concerns it wants TATF to know. The spokesman said
TATF will take all the public help it can get.

TATF provides narcotic investigations for the Havre, Chinook and Harlem
police departments and the Hill, Liberty, Blaine, Judith Basin, Chouteau
and Phillips County sheriff's offices.

TATF on Monday released a report for the fiscal year that started July 1,
2000, and ended June 30, 2001.

The task force reported that it:

Arrested 25 people suspected of selling marijuana or methamphetamine to
high school-age people. Arrested 10 people suspected of dealing cocaine,
methamphetamine or marijuana on or from the Fort Belknap Indian
Reservation. Arrested 22 other people suspected of dealing methamphetamine
or cocaine. Developed 440 new suspects.

TATF goes after all violations of drug laws, "whether it's big or small,"
said the spokesman.

If the agency has a large caseload, it goes after the larger targets first,
but "nothing gets overlooked. We do it all." He said arrests range from
people who have several pounds of marijuana to those who have paraphernalia.

TATF has arrested four people it believes were distributing pounds of
marijuana from Texas and California in Blaine County and on the Fort
Belknap Indian Reservation.

The four men accused of transporting the marijuana were outside sources and
are believed to be involved with a drug ring, he said.

TATF confiscated 1.14 pounds of methamphetamine worth an estimated $39,000
on the street, based on a sale price of about one gram for $100. TATF
confiscated 7.95 pounds of marijuana worth $36,000, based on a common price
of $50 for a quarter ounce. TATF also confiscated 32.58 grams of cocaine
worth an estimated $3,200, based on a street sale price similar to that of
methamphetamine. Members of the task force also confiscated 1.3 grams of
heroin worth $200. The spokesman said the agency confiscated eight cubic
centimeters of mushroom spores in a syringe. TATF confiscated 1,011 pills
too. Any controlled substance, like Zanax, Ridalin, Demerol, Valium,
Percoden and others, can be confiscated if it is being used without a
prescription.

People can get information to the task force by calling the Havre Police
Department at 265-4361, the Hill County Sheriff's Department at 265-2512 or
Crime Stoppers at 265-4444, or by calling their local law enforcement agency.