Paul Bunyan Task Force - History
The Paul Bunyan Drug Task Force was started in 1988 under the supervision of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Since the task force’s formation, its members have included counties and agencies in the Northern Minnesota area, including at different times throughout the 21 year history: Becker County, Beltrami County, Cass County, Clearwater County, Crow Wing County, Hubbard County, Koochiching County, Lake of the Woods County, Mahnomen County, Ottertail County, Red Lake County, Roseau County, Pennington County, the City of Baudette, the City of Bemidji, the City of Warroad as well as the Leech Lake Reservation and White Earth Reservation.
In 2009, the Paul Bunyan Drug Task Force is made up of the agencies of Beltrami County, Roseau County, Lake of the Woods County, Mahnomen County, White Earth Reservation and the City of Bemidji. There are currently 5 full-time Narcotics Agents and 1 full-time Gang Agent assigned to PBDTF.
The current boundaries of the Paul Bunyan Drug Task Force encompass just over 6000 thousand square miles and the population of over 71,000 people. The region served is made up of some of the poorest communities in the state. It is mostly rural and remote, made up of small farm towns and one urban area: Bemidji. Roseau and Lake of the Woods counties border Canada with open borders consisting of waterways and land access the ongoing problem of smuggling between the US and Canada of controlled substances and currency continue to be a problem.
Because of the unique nature of this population, the federal government has stepped up its efforts to enforce the laws regarding drug trafficking, violent crimes and gangs with the formation of the Headwaters Safe Trails Task Force based out of the FBI office in Bemidji.
Methamphetamine, production which had been a large problem in this area has been significant reduced because of the precursor laws which have taken affect in Minnesota. It appears as though cocaine is rapidly becoming the number one drug of choice among drug abusers in this area. According to medical and counseling personnel, however, methamphetamine is still a serious problem in the region.
Marijuana Cultivation: The Paul Bunyan Drug Task Force has been seeing three different types of marijuana grows: wild, outdoor and hydroponic. Outdoor marijuana grows are initiated with starter plants that are grown inside a building in a controlled environment until weather permits, the grower moves the plants outside, sometimes on to state, county or private property. Hydroponic marijuana grows are when plants are grown specifically indoors under artificial conditions. The plants are started and grown in several different stages to ensure the grower with a continuous supply of mature marijuana plants to harvest. Wild marijuana grows have been found in numbers of 12 to 1000 plants. Marijuana grows are an annual challenge for the Paul Bunyan Drug Task Force and will continue to be a problem. Once wild marijuana grows have been located, the site is monitored and eradicated on an annual basis.
Cocaine: The Paul Bunyan Drug Task Force is seeing large scale conversion of powder cocaine into crack cocaine. The majority of the cocaine purchased and seized in the Paul Bunyan Drug Task Force area has been in the rock form (crack cocaine). Agents have seen that crack is the preferred form of cocaine by both dealers and users. Crack cocaine is also the drug of choice on the reservations in the area.
Methamphetamine Production: The production of methamphetamine in the Paul Bunyan Drug Task Force area has been on a steady decline since its peak between 2002 and 2003 due to very intense, proactive investigations by the Paul Bunyan Drug Task Force and restrictions on precursors such as Pseudoephedrine. Our statistics show from the years of 2002 and 2003 to the present that the number of methamphetamine labs has been on the decrease in the Paul Bunyan Drug Task Force area. However, information has been received about the possibility of new methods of manufacturing methamphetamine. Agents continue to monitor the advances of new manufacturing methods, and will adapt investigative techniques to meet these advances.
The main distributors of pharmaceuticals tend to be older, long-term users and addicts. Drugs of abuse are obtained mainly through fraudulent prescriptions and diversion by patients and health care workers who are in a position to handle or dispense them. When there is a scarcity of other illicit narcotics in the task force area there tends to be an increased demand for pharmaceuticals.
Gangs: The Predominant gangs operating in the Paul Bunyan Gang and Drug Task Force area are: Native Mob, Back of Town Mob and Native Gangster Disciples. There are numerous juvenile gangs are specific to our area and are on the rise in numbers and criminal activity. These gangs include but are not limited to: Blood Stone Villain Pirus, Shadow Mob, 3AK (Third Avenue Killers) and many different sects of Vice Lords and Gangster Disciples. Vandalism crime has always been a constant in the Task Force area. Gang graffiti has become more prevalent. Property crime is a common activity, especially for the juvenile gang members. However, there is valid information on adult members dealing in stolen property for drugs and weapons. Community intimidation: During the summer celebrations in our area the juvenile members of area gangs are more active, attempting to control certain areas of the community events. Other intimidation factors are more related to the area schools, i.e. assaults, recruiting activities, threats, graffiti and other disruptive behavior. A high amount of drug and gang activities have some type of firearm violation, either stolen weapons or felons in possession. A large amount of property crimes in our area involve theft of firearms which are then either modified and/or traded for narcotics or other firearms.
There is a great deal of violent crime in the task force area. Some of these crimes are reported to law enforcement, but the contributing factors are often withheld by victims and witnesses. Information about “turf” issues and drug-related drive-by shootings are mostly anecdotal and are received second and third hand. Many other violent crimes go unreported because victims don’t want to deal with law enforcement and fear retaliation by the perpetrators. An attempt to quantify how much drugs and drug dealing influence violent behavior would be speculative.
There have been numerous incidents where people under the influence of drugs, looking for money to buy drugs, or negotiating with other criminals to buy drugs have committed murders and assaults. It is the primary goal of the Paul Bunyan Drug Task Force to enforce narcotics laws to provide the people of the area a safer community.
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