AS METH WANES, COCAINE GAINS

Sioux Falls Police See Surge In Coke-Related Arrests

Law enforcement's assault on methamphetamine in recent years has
succeeded in suppressing the drug's production here, but it might
have opened a hole in the local drug market that now is being filled
by cocaine.

In recent years, cocaine has increased in prominence, with arrests
for possession and distribution on the rise in the Sioux Falls area.

Cocaine offers a similar high for about the same cost as
methamphetamine, and its popularity hinges in part on the decreased
supply of locally produced methamphetamine.

"We're seeing a huge resurgence in cocaine," said Earl Miranda, a
special agent with the state Division of Criminal Investigation.
"Cocaine is really starting to come back."

According to a June report by the U.S. Justice Department, "... powder
cocaine distribution and abuse are increasing in Sioux Falls; law
enforcement officials report that they anticipate a continued increase
in cocaine availability and a decline in methamphetamine availability
in the near term."

There also are indications that drug traffickers are taking advantage
of South Dakota's methamphetamine laws and the resulting decreased
availability to promote cocaine.

Police and narcotics agents have seized larger amounts of
methamphetamine at once, rather than smaller, more numerous busts,
Miranda said.

But cocaine cases have begun to edge ahead of methamphetamine cases,
he said.

"Before, we used to do 10 meth cases a day. And now out of those 10
cases, you're seeing four meth cases and six coke cases," he said.

Methamphetamine has been a scourge in the Midwest and remains a top
priority for law enforcement here. While methamphetamine problems
persist, local production of the drug is down, and arrests for
possession and distribution have slipped.

Mexican criminal organizations primarily are responsible for the
methamphetamine and cocaine found in South Dakota, said Minnehaha
County Sheriff Mike Milstead, who also sits on the executive board for
the Midwest High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, which monitors drug
activity in the region.

The cocaine market might have "taken the path of least resistance," he
said.

"What has happened, I think, for one, the potency and quality of some
of the meth that's been coming into the Midwest has deteriorated
because of the number of different times it's been cut," Milstead said.

When methamphetamine was at its peak, Milstead said, it drew time,
personnel and money away from other drug enforcement efforts.

"It was not very cost-effective to continually have to chase these
small local labs down," he said. "And it diverted some of the
attention that we should have given to the main suppliers of drugs
into our community."

Cocaine provides a similar but shorter high than methamphetamine,
Miranda said. A $100 methamphetamine high might last 12 to 18 hours,
whereas a $100 cocaine high might last only two to four hours, he said.

Effective restrictions

The South Dakota Legislature in 2006 overwhelmingly approved
restrictions on access to pseudoephedrine and other ingredients used
to make methamphetamine.

There was an urgency to enact laws to address the voracity with which
methamphetamine production and abuse was spreading, said Rep. Joni
Cutler, R-Sioux Falls.

"Meth was dangerous on so many levels," Cutler said.

The mission of the legislation then was to restrict access to, and
better track, methamphetamine precursors such as pseudoephedrine and
ephedrine, she said. Law changes were coupled with treatment and
rehabilitation efforts for addicts, Cutler said.

Many credit the changes with reductions in methamphetamine
production.

"... Mexican (drug trafficking organizations) have taken advantage of
decreased domestic methamphetamine production caused by state
pseudoephedrine control legislation to increase distribution of
Mexican ice methamphetamine in the HIDTA (High Intensity Drug
Trafficking Area) region," according to the Justice Department report.

Miranda and Milstead said law enforcement is tackling cocaine much as
it has other illicit drugs.

Information obtained from traffickers, dealers and users here is used
to infiltrate and disrupt the flow of cocaine into and through South
Dakota, Miranda said.

"(Narcotics agents) are approaching the cocaine issue in the same
manner as other drugs: Identify the sources of supply and destroy,
dismantle or disrupt their activities," he said.

Money worries

The successes against methamphetamine might be at risk by deficiencies
in federal grant money.

Law enforcement officials said there is a large amount of federal
money available to them for anti-methamphetamine efforts, but that
money appears to be thinning.

Money from the Bureau of Justice Assistance to South Dakota dropped by
64 percent, from $786,551 in 2007 to $280,683 for 2008, according to
the bureau. No money will be granted in 2009.

The effect on South Dakota of the reduction of certain federal dollars
is indirect because there are no employees funded by those grants,
Milstead said. It will hamper other states, he said.

"The biggest impact it's going to have is on neighboring states that
are making connections to regional distribution networks," Milstead
said. "That greatly impacts our intelligence gathering in the Midwest."

There is a cyclical pattern to drug use - as some drugs fade from
public view, others become more popular. Right now, methamphetamine
and cocaine likely go back and forth in both popularity and in
availability, Miranda said.

Other drugs, such as LSD and ecstasy, also have seen slight increases
in popularity, he said.

"For this time period, for this area, cocaine is easier to get,"
Miranda said.