KALISPELL — Northwest Montana Drug Task Force Commander Alan Brooks said they seized their first load of fentanyl in Northwest Montana back in 2021.
“And I think there was 1,900 pills in that seizure alone, over the last four years we’ve seen that dramatically increase,” said Brooks.
“Probably seized close to 200,000 dosage units last year, where it was something that we didn’t even deal with before, now it makes up about 90% of our work,” added Brooks.
The Northwest Montana Drug Task Force is a partnership with regional law enforcement, tribal communities and the Department of Homeland Security to stop the flow of dangerous drugs entering Montana.
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“Narcotics, dealing with other drugs, methamphetamine is still large, but the fentanyl one is the one that’s impactful obviously because of the accompanying overdoses that are growing and tragic,” said Brooks.
Brooks said the majority of fentanyl they seize originates from Mexico and works its way up the West Coast before entering Montana.
“Now we’re seeing a lot of powder, so the raw fentanyl compound. And that’s obviously alarming for us, there’s a greater risk of overdose, the effect on the street is a lot stronger," Brooks noted.
Brooks said drug trafficking organizations are preying on Montanans as they see a high demand for product and fewer law enforcement patrols compared to other states.
He calls it a modern-day gold rush for drug traffickers.
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“We’re seeing profit margins increase a hundred-fold, dosage units that would cost less than a dollar down in southern states are going as much as $10 to $20 on the reservations, so the price margin is huge,” said Brooks.
Brooks said the fentanyl they are seizing is extremely potent, leading to an increase in overdoses, especially in young adults and teenagers.
“Where we’ve had overdoses with juveniles and that’s just obviously something that we haven’t navigated in years prior, but because of the dangers in potency associated with this drug, it’s now occurring.”
The task force — which covers an area from Lake County all the way to the Canadian border — relies on grant funding to operate. Brooks said more support on a city, county and state level would help them fight this epidemic.
“Many a times I’ve sat with many a family and many of individuals who become victim to this and wondering what more can be done, and again having more resources is going to be helpful.”
