WAR ON DRUGS HITS HOME

Despite More Busts, Work Increasing For Brown County Drug Task
Force

Two parcels confiscated from an Aberdeen residence last summer
contained more methamphetamine than Brian Locke of the Brown County
Sheriff's Department has seen since the county's Drug Task Force was
formed nearly six years ago.

On June 8, law enforcers confiscated more than two and a half pounds
of meth from an Aberdeen home, one of the biggest drug busts in the
city's history.

The amount of meth confiscated in most busts is measured in grams,
said Mark McNeary, Brown County state's attorney. There are 28 grams
in an ounce and a bust yielding more than an ounce is significant,
McNeary said. Two pounds isn't just a big amount for Aberdeen, it's a
big amount period, he said.

Although making year-to-year comparisons is difficult, the two
parcels easily made 2006 the task force's most productive year.

The task force was created in 2001 and is a collaboration between the
Brown County Sheriff's Department, Aberdeen Police Department, state
Division of Criminal Investigation, South Dakota Highway Patrol,
state's attorney's office, Court Services and parole agents.
Generally, the group meets once a week to share information about
area drug activity.

Sheriff Mark Milbrandt said there was enough drug activity when the
task force was created to merit the task force. So his department,
the Aberdeen Police Department and DCI each dedicated an officer to
only drug work. Unfortunately, the need for the task force still
exists, McNeary said. He said his office's workload has increased
because of the task force.

As the result of the June meth bust, three people have been indicted
on federal charges. The investigation is still ongoing.

Law enforcers believe James Johnson, one of the people arrested, was
a major player in the Aberdeen drug world. He pleaded innocent to 10
felony drug charges in Brown County Circuit Court before his case was
transferred to federal court.

Milbrandt said the case was transferred because the alleged drug
trafficking involves other states. And, he said, sentencing
guidelines are more severe at the federal level.

Demand high: Removing one alleged drug dealer is a start, said Tanner
Jondahl of the Aberdeen Police Department and also a member of the
task force, but other dealers will pick up much of Johnson's alleged
business. He said most people don't realize how severe the drug
problem is in the Aberdeen area.

"Not to frighten people, but I don't think the public can grasp the
quantity of drugs that come into Aberdeen," Jondahl said.

Police still regularly seize ounce quantities of meth and cocaine,
Locke said. But, he added, those drugs don't appear to be prevalent
in local schools.

The two-and-a-half pounds of methamphetamine confiscated had an
estimated street value of $180,000. Such big deliveries, McNeary
said, shows there is considerable local drug use.

"You've got to be realistic," McNeary said. "There was demand. We
didn't just happen to intercept one package (Johnson was allegedly)
hoping to sell."

The task force has played a role in other meaningful drug busts,
too:

In December, four people were arrested after a bust of a meth lab in
a Doland-area home.

A couple of months earlier, four-and-a-half ounces of cocaine and 15
pounds of marijuana being transported from Watertown to Aberdeen were
seized.

Five people were charged in federal court after a meth lab bust in
Fort Ransom, N.D., in late 2005. In that case, task force members
say, people involved in making meth frequently stopped in Aberdeen to
buy pseudoephedrine and other items used to manufacture meth.

"I think what we're seeing now is the reward for work that has been
done for the prior two or three years leading up to this point,"
McNeary said.

Sharing information: The investigation that led to Johnson's arrest
took 18 months, he said.

Locke said having officers dedicated to working drug cases full time
is key. The communication is invaluable, he said. What seems like a
minor detail can make a big difference in a case.

Knowing about an incident in which drugs were found in a vehicle in
Wyoming could have knocked months off the Johnson investigation, Locke said.

"You just can't keep (information) in house, especially in the
distribution world because Aberdeen drugs are not coming from
Aberdeen," he said.

Locke and DCI agent Laura Zylstra work in offices in the basement of
the sheriff's department. Jondahl, whose office is at the police
department, often stops by. The city and county share information on
arrests, accomplices, criminal records and more. Information
garnered from pawn slips, utility bills, pistol permits, city and
county records and other sources is also used in drug cases, Locke
said.

Sometimes, Jondahl said, concerned family members call with tips
about suspected drug use. And sometimes people involved in drug cases
provide information in hopes of getting a more lenient sentence.

Locke said the public also helps. When they see 20 vehicles stopping
by the same residence in a short amount of time, each staying for
only a few minutes, they know something is up and call law
enforcement. That's beneficial in drug cases, he said.

Pharmacies assist too, Jondahl said. Workers note when people buy
large amounts of pseudoephedrine and are in contact with each other
and law enforcement agencies. Stores keep logs of who buys
pseudoephedrine. Those have helped with recent meth busts, Milbrandt
said.

Profit and progress: Locke said greed is the reason the drug business
is so appealing. Selling drugs is profitable. Task force members said
the current street value for a gram of crystal meth is $200. Powder
meth is about $120 a gram.

Dealers can buy an ounce of cocaine for $800 and sell it locally for
$100 a gram, they said. That's a profit of $2,000 per ounce.

Even with last year's two-and-a-half pound bust, there's still plenty
of work to be done, Locke said. He and McNeary agree that the
potential for another large drug bust - maybe even another
two-and-a-half pound meth bust - exists even though progress has been
made.

Two pounds is "huge to us, but in the drug world, that's peanuts,"
Locke said.

Unfortunately, McNeary said, the Drug Task Force won't disband
anytime soon.

"In the best of all worlds," he said, "they would be able to work
themselves out of business, but I don't think that's going to happen."