The White House describes Beltrami County as an area of ​​intense drug trafficking

BEMIDJI — Beltrami County is among eight counties in the state recently designated by the White House as a high drug trafficking area.

Since 2014, the Paul Bunyan Drug Task Force, which serves north-central Minnesota, has seen an exponential increase in drug raids and seizures.

Working with the task force, Bemidji Police Department and the FBI, law enforcement applied for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) designation granted by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

The region has seen a 12,500% increase in methamphetamine busts and a 28,500% increase in opioid busts over the last decade.

“When we first saw the numbers we had, we were amazed,” Beltrami County Sheriff Jason Riggs said. “That may not be true, but those are the numbers and we were blown away by the amount of seizures in the community.”

Beltrami County's overdose rate is also more than twice the state and national average.

In 2021, there were 11,506 non-fatal hospital visits among all Minnesotans who experienced an overdose, an overdose rate of 2 per 1,000 residents. That same year, there were 221 overdose hospital visits in Beltrami County, for a nonfatal overdose rate of 4.8 per 1,000 residents.

Between 2014 and 2023, Beltrami County lost 125 of its residents to overdoses.

“It's just a matter of supply and demand, and unfortunately we're kind of at the bottom of the food chain here,” Riggs said. “That's why we're being targeted by these drug dealers – because we're at the bottom.” You can make more money with the chain because drugs are a little more scarce here. … So there’s a bigger profit margin for them.”

The designation will provide additional resources to law enforcement agencies that work to disrupt and dismantle drug trafficking operations, such as the Paul Bunyan Drug Task Force.

“Our initiatives allow us to target these drug traffickers. Our goal is not to punish or target the consumer, we want to help these people,” Riggs said. “We want to target the drug traffickers who are bringing the poison into the community.”

Beltrami County is assigned to the North Central HIDTA, which is made up of counties in Minnesota and Wisconsin that also received the designation. This includes St. Louis County.

“As exciting as it is to receive this award, it is equally sad as it confirms our region's extreme drug problem with illicit drug use and distribution,” a press release said. “We hope this designation brings additional attention and resources to our area for enforcement, treatment and diversion.”

Jenny Vance is a peer recovery support specialist at Face it Together, where she meets people where they are at with their substance use disorder.

Vance said the downtown Bemidji organization uses harm reduction-based techniques and has an open door to anyone who wants a cup of coffee, information about using Narcan to reverse an overdose and more.

“We meet them where they are,” Vance said. “If they continue to use it, we just want to make sure they are safe in that regard. This can also have an impact on the broader community, such as with syringe exchanges: First, they bring their needles, second, all in all, they don't spread disease.