Pine to Prairie Drug Task Force seizes money, drugs and guns in 2016

Investigative work done by the Pine to Prairie Drug Task Force in 2016 led to 271 arrests for drug trafficking and other violent offenses in an eight-county area of northwestern Minnesota. 

That number of arrests — 271 — was almost double the 140 arrests that were made in 2015.

In the process of their work, the 13-member task force team also confiscated 57 weapons, turned up extensive amounts of drug paraphernalia and stolen items, and seized a large amount of drugs. The drugs seized included 1,617 grams of meth, 102 grams of heroin, 38 grams of cocaine, 2.8 pounds of marijuana, and 537 prescription pills.

The 102 grams of heroin was more than triple the 31 grams that were confiscated in 2015 and the 1,617 grams of meth was more than double the 663 grams seized in the year before. 

“As our statistics show, we’ve mirrored the nationwide trend of having an increase in the use of heroin,” a task force official notes. “The deadly fentanyl-laced heroin drug combination has been noticed in our area and we are doing everything that we can to get it stopped. Since multiple other agencies have joined in our task force efforts we’ve been able to be much more effective. This shows in our increased number of cases.”

Many now doing time

About those cases, the official says, “A significant number of offenders are now doing time in prison. We have been able to develop air-tight cases; there just haven’t been many not-guilty verdicts.”

Also high in popularity is the use of prescription pills. That popularity has resulted in a number of home break-ins where the medicine cabinet was a prime focus. Of crimes committed locally, agents say, drugs and alcohol are a factor in a large percentage of them. 

Marijuana, according to team members, continues to be the “starter” drug… the one that typically precedes the use of meth, heroin and many of the others. 

Three of the task force’s 13 agents are from Polk County with one investigator each provided by the cities of Crookston and East Grand Forks and a deputy provided by the Sheriff’s Office. 

The Lake of the Woods, Norman, Pennington and Roseau county sheriff’s offices each provide an agent while the U.S. Border Patrol commits four agents and U.S. Homeland Security provides one investigator. 

Additionally, the City of Thief River Falls has also recently assigned a part-time investigator to work with the team. 

While not committing a full-time member to the task force, Marshall, Kittson and Red Lake counties are available to otherwise assist as needed. Marshall and Norman counties and the City of Thief River Falls have new canine officers that are at the disposal of the task force. 

The task force receives $200,000 in state funding annually. This money is split between the cities and counties to reimburse them for a portion of the salaries of the investigators that they provide.  A part of the grant is also used for training and to purchase necessary equipment. 

Advisory board 

supervises

The team answers to a 14-member advisory board. That board is made up of Polk County Sheriff Barb Erdman, Crookston Police Chief Paul Biermaier (board vice president), East Grand Forks Police Chief Mike Hedlund (board president), Crookston City Council member Bob Quanrud, East Grand Forks City Council member Chad Grassel, Polk County Commissioner Warren Strandell, Roseau County Sheriff Steve Gust, Assistant Roseau County Attorney Mike Grover, Pennington County Sheriff Ray Kuznia, Thief River Falls Police Chief Dick Wittenberg, Norman County Sheriff Jeremy Thornton, Norman County Chief Deputy Ben Fall, Lake of the Woods County Sheriff Gary Fish and Lake of the Woods County Attorney James Austad.

Associate (non-voting) advisory board members include Polk County Attorney Greg Widseth, Red Lake County Sheriff Mitch Bernstein, Ada Police Chief Jody Bueng, Kittson County Sheriff Kenny Hultgren, Marshall County Sheriff Jason Boman, U.S. Border Patrol Agent Eric Kuhn, and Homeland Security Investigations Agent Josh Goldberg. 

In addition to their work in the field, the federal agencies provide a connection to other government resources including prosecution through the U.S. District Court (federal) system. 

The task force has agreements that allow it to work across state lines with the Grand Forks Narcotics Task Force and to work extensively with drug task forces in adjacent counties and throughout Minnesota.

Suspicious activities can be reported to the sheriff’s office (218-281-0431), the Crookston Police Department (218-281-3111), the East Grand Forks Police Department (218-773-4307), or to Polk County’s Help Us 2 Fight Meth and All Crime anonymous number (877-204-7505).