New Beginning Drug Bust
|  Video
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| Samantha Mehrotra |
| 11/23/2009 |
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| A drug bust of a different kind in Roosevelt County, Montana. Authorities say there`s a growing number of people selling not street drugs, but prescription drugs. Ten law enforcement agencies from northeastern Montana are working together to put a stop to the region`s growing drug crisis. This is one of the many raids executed today by Montana law enforcement in Poplar, Brockton, and Frazer. Officials issued a total of 38 arrest warrants and six search warrants, after spending months following residents believed to be in possession of illegal drugs. "We`ve gathered intel for years but in April, I guess it was, we developed a couple of sources that were willing to work with us," says Ron Kemp, the undersheriff of Roosevelt county. "Private citizens that wanted to try and help out. They had access to some of these people. Started out as a small venture and this is what it turned into." The goal of the operation, referred to by law enforcement as the "New Beginning," is to track down those who are selling prescription pills, an enterprise which has been growing steadily since 2005, after federal laws passed restrictions on the former drug of choice, methamphetamine. "We really saw a decline in methamphetamine in 2005, after they passed pseudofedrine laws requiring you to produce ID and limit the amount you can purchase," says Kemp. "That`s when we really saw an increase in the diversion of prescription pills." Law enforcement officials say their struggle with drug control has now reached a crucial point. They say drug use is becoming the norm rather than the exception, and the problem is compounded by residents who are facing tough economic challenges. "For years I`ve seen, it`s become their survival mode for a lot of people here because of the decline of jobs here," says Jose Figueroa Jr., the director of public safety at Ft. Peck Tribes. "When you have a community that`s 76-percent employed, there`s other means of survival to go to, and unfortunately narcotics is one way out for them." Intravenous drug use in the community is already causing problems. Dirty needles spread disease, and if it continues, health care providers worry they won`t be able to meet the future needs of the community. "We have identified around 220 people who are Hepatitis C positive, which means to us that eventually when they become symptomatic to their disease, it`s going to cost us a tremendous amount of money to keep those people healthy you might say," says James Melbourne\, the Tribal Health Director of Ft. Peck Tribes. Law enforcement officers say today`s operation is a step in the right direction, and that their efforts will only grow with time. They hope it really is a new beginning that will spur change, for communities that desperately need it. Today`s operation is part of an ongoing campaign. Law enforcement seized eight meth labs in the area earlier this summer. |
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