Meth seizures increase in Minnesota for eighth year

Methamphetamine seizures have increased in Minnesota for the last eight years, according to officials, and record amounts of the drug were seized by task forces across the state in 2017.  

According to data from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, more than 620 pounds of methamphetamine were seized by violent crime enforcement teams last year.

The statewide increase in meth seizures represents a 28 percent rise from the previous year. 

Use of the drug has manifested itself in areas across the state, said statewide gang and drug enforcement coordinator Brian Marquart, and no community is immune to it. 

In Central Minnesota, however, the quantity of methamphetamine seized by the Central Minnesota Violent Offenders Task Force decreased dramatically. 

According to data obtained from the task force, the team seized approximately 17 pounds of meth in 2017, a 55 percent decline from the previous year. 

Lt. Leslie Patterson, commander of the Violent Offenders Task Force, said there is, however, still an influx of drugs coming into the area. 

The team has heard from other agencies about drugs that were seized by law enforcement before reaching their Central Minnesota destination. 

The task force saw an increase in heroin containing fentanyl and carfentanyl coming into the area in the last year. The additions make the drug far more potent than heroin alone.

"There is more stuff that is coming this way," Patterson said, and the task force has seen an increase in the amounts of marijuana as well as heroin. 

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In 2018, according to Patterson, the task force has already seen an increase in the quantity of drugs seized to date. 

But what accounts for the rise in meth seizures? 

In the early 2000s, Marquart said, Minnesota had a lot of methamphetamine being produced in local labs. 

Education, prevention and legislation changes took those meth labs down to an estimated fewer than 30 across the state, but "it never went away." 

Patterson echoed the same trends, and said when the state cracked down on labs and took allergy products containing ephedrine and pseudoephedrine behind store counters, imports of meth rose. "Realistically," Patterson said, "most of it is coming from Mexico."

And the trend is not unique to Minnesota. 

According to the 2016 Drug Enforcement Agency National Drug Threat Assessment, most methamphetamine in the United States is trafficked from Mexico.

Labs in Mexico, Marquart said, are now able to make meth batches nearly double the size they were a few years ago while still maintaining high levels of purity and potency.

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Through March 2015, the DEA found purity levels averaged 90 percent, according to the report. Approximately 32 percent of the law enforcement agencies surveyed by the DEA listed meth as the greatest drug threat in their areas. 

"They have figured out ways to double their production without sacrificing qualities, which drives the prices down," said Marquart. 

A few years ago, according to Marquart, enforcement teams would have considered 10 pounds of meth a large seizure.  Now, teams are seeing seizures of 30, 50 and 100 pounds of meth.  

In addition, prices have seen dramatic declines in the last several years, Marquart said. Five years ago, the wholesale price on the street for meth was approximately $20,000 a pound. 

That has dropped to $4,500 to $7,000 per pound, said Marquart. 

Patterson said since 2012, prices have stayed relatively stable in Central Minnesota, but those prices vary depending on factors such as location and familiarity with the seller. Meth costs more up north, according to Patterson, than it does in Central Minnesota. 

Enforcement teams have worked hard to focus on mid- and upper-level dealers, Marquart said. Commonly, enforcement agencies work their way from the street-level dealer to mid- and upper-level dealers. 

According to Marquart, education is as important as busting trafficking operations. 

"We all want the same thing," said Marquart of efforts to reduce meth use. "We aren't going to arrest our way out of this." 

Follow Clairissa Baker on Twitter @clairissabaker and email her at cmbaker@stcloudtimes.com.