TASK FORCE TAKING RECORD AMOUNT OF DRUGS OFF THE STREETS

A drug task force in Hennepin County recently seized larger amounts of
crack cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana in individual busts than it
had in the group's 13 years of work.

While the federal Drug Enforcement Administration said the number of meth
arrests and seizures continues to climb in the Twin Cities area, there
haven't been dramatic increases for other drugs.

But members of the Minneapolis/ Hennepin County Drug Task Force have
noticed that some area dealers are buying in bulk and distributing to other
cities without specific buyers lined up. Dealers generally used to buy
smaller amounts they knew clients wanted, authorities said.

They can't say for sure whether the record busts are driven by tenacious
police work, talkative informants, more drugs flowing into the Twin Cities
area or plain good luck, but authorities see the busts as part of an
unusually successful three months.

An informant triggered a four-month investigation that led to the January
arrest of three men involved in distributing 30 pounds of meth worth more
than $1 million. By comparison, the task force seized about 36 pounds of
meth in all of 2001, records show.

Also in January, officers found more than 4 1/2 pounds of crack cocaine in
packages under a bed, in kitchen drawers and elsewhere in a couple's
apartment in southwest Minneapolis.

At the end of February, police found more than 800 pounds of marijuana. The
marijuana, worth more than $600,000, was found in a Minneapolis home.

"Cases are being worked the same way, but we're just running into a lot of
dope," said Minneapolis police Lt. Dan Grout, head of the task force.
"We're also seeing that dealers are fronting the drugs and willing to wait
for payment later."

Lt. John Cich, who leads the narcotics unit for the Hennepin County
Sheriff's Office, said he's been involved with the task force since it
started in 1988 and hasn't seen a three-month period like December through
February.

Besides the record busts, officers seized 600 pills of Ecstasy, more than
11 pounds of powder cocaine, two bulletproof vests, 44 guns, 20 vehicles
and $133,000 cash since December, records said.

In the same three-month period starting in December 2000, the task force
recovered a half-pound of meth, 10 vehicles, one gun and $45,000 cash. They
also seized 33 1/2 pounds of powder and crack cocaine, driven by a large
powder cocaine bust. While officers arrested 19 people in that period, they
arrested 30 people from December 2001 through February.

Grout estimated that the drugs and guns taken off the streets in those
three months were worth nearly $5 million.

Adding to the successes, authorities announced arrests Friday in an
investigation of a drug ring they said brought hundreds of thousands of
dollars worth of cocaine and other drugs into the Twin Cities area from Mexico.

Lt. Dan Votel, head of the St. Paul/Ramsey County Narcotics Task Force,
said drug busts have been steady for his officers, but they haven't seen
any huge increase in activity. While they handle larger cases, officers
also will do smaller, street-level search warrants in neighborhoods.

"Our average bust isn't that big, but every now and then you get a blip on
the screen and nail down a big offender or group," Votel said. "Very
honestly, my experience has been that as our work with informants goes, so
goes the work in the unit."

Grout and Minneapolis Police Chief Robert Olson said they believe that drug
dealing and use have fueled the sharp rise in reports of serious crimes
such as theft, auto theft and burglary in Minneapolis. From Jan. 1 to March
5, burglary went up 42 percent and theft 11 percent compared with the same
time last year. But reports of serious crime had been on the rise since
September.

Grout could only speculate on the task force's successes. Dealers might
have believed it was easier to do business in the Twin Cities as more
officers, including drug investigators, were assigned to terrorist-related
tasks, he said.

"This is a snapshot of what these folks do to interrupt the drug trade,"
Olson said. "It's a quiet operation that goes on 24/7."

The task force consists of more than 35 officers from the Minneapolis
police and Hennepin County sheriff's narcotics units who investigate mid-to
upper-level cases. A federal grant of about $400,000 funds drug buys,
overtime, training and money for informants.

This task force handles the majority of large drug investigations in
Hennepin County, but other task forces work in portions of the county.

Because drug dealers don't work 9 to 5, narcotics officers are tied to a
pager and cell phone around the clock. Investigations can last for months
and involve dangerous undercover work. Dealers and their associates
sometimes own bulletproof vests and guns more powerful than the officers'
weapons, Grout said.

"You volunteer to be in the narcotics unit. You want to be here," he said.
"You have informants calling in the middle of the night. Family life does
suffer."

The task force has gotten such good results because the members are
experienced and work well together, he said. They're not paired up, but
officers talk to each other every day and don't worry about crossing
jurisdictional lines, he said.

Hennepin County Sheriff Pat McGowan said enforcement is only part of the
equation. To eliminate the drug problem, there has to be education,
treatment and prevention.

Chief Olson smiled when he heard about the task force's recent
accomplishments and said, "All I know is there are hundreds of thousands of
hits [of drugs] that aren't going to be dealt."

Said Cich, "When we leave a house of a drug bust and hear the neighbors
say, 'Thank you,' that's a good feeling. It's hard on neighborhoods.
Strange people are hanging around. Needles are being dropped. Kids are scared."