Cocaine

National Drug Intelligence Center
Minnesota Drug Threat Assessment Update
June 2002

Cocaine, both powdered and crack, poses a serious concern to law enforcement and healthcare professionals, particularly in urban areas. According to the Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS), cocaine-related treatment admissions to publicly funded facilities in Minnesota increased from 4,457 in 1994 to a high of 5,020 in 1998, then decreased to 4,194 in 2000. (See Table 1.) Despite this decrease, in 1999, the most recent year for which nationwide data are available, the number of cocaine-related treatment admissions per 100,000 population in Minnesota (121) exceeded the number per 100,000 nationwide (104). According to the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), cocaine-related emergency department (ED) mentions in Minneapolis increased from 674 in 1996 to 841 in 2000; there were more ED mentions associated with cocaine than with any other illicit drug. In Minneapolis-St. Paul the number of deaths in which cocaine was a factor decreased from 33 in 1999 to 28 in 2000, according to DAWN mortality data. Despite this decrease, cocaine was a factor in more deaths than any other illicit drug.

Table 1. Drug-Related Treatment Admissions to Publicly Funded Facilities, Minnesota, 1994-2000

	Cocaine	Methamphetamine	Heroin	Marijuana
1994	4,457	478	459	4,077
1995	4,384	940	636	5,791
1996	4,204	673	645	6,211
1997	4,740	1,510	954	7,444
1998	5,020	1,575	887	7,512
1999	4,779	1,169	987	7,655
2000	4,194	1,698	985	8,050

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Treatment Episode Data Set.

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Cocaine is widely available throughout Minnesota. According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission (USSC), the number of cocaine-related federal sentences in fiscal year (FY) 2000 (99) exceeded the number in FY1996 (74). According to DEA, in the first quarter of FY2002, powdered cocaine sold for $70 to $150 per gram, $700 to $2,000 per ounce, and $18,000 to $28,000 per kilogram. Crack sold for $15 to $25 per rock in Minneapolis, but in other areas of the state, crack sold for as much as $100 per rock. In 2001, over 77 kilograms of cocaine were seized by Minnesota state drug task forces--a decrease from 93 kilograms in 2000, but well above the 56 kilograms seized in 1999. The Minneapolis Police Department reports that wholesale quantities of cocaine are increasingly available in the city.

Cocaine, particularly crack, is often associated with violent crime in Minnesota. The Minneapolis Police Department estimates that 90 percent of the violent crime in the city is drug-related, most of which is attributed to cocaine distribution and abuse.

Mexican DTOs and criminal groups are the primary transporters of cocaine into Minnesota. They typically transport multiounce to multikilogram quantities to Minnesota primarily from southwestern states, Los Angeles, and Chicago by private vehicle or package delivery services.

Minneapolis Cocaine Seizure Linked to DTO

In April 2002, two Hispanic individuals in Minneapolis were indicted by a grand jury on federal narcotics charges. The individuals received a shipment of approximately 1 kilogram of cocaine in a package from Chicago, and also had approximately 140 grams of cocaine in their apartment. The two Hispanic males were apprehended by Minneapolis Police Department narcotics officers who were conducting an investigation into a drug trafficking organization operating in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. The individuals received the package of cocaine at a residence in south Minneapolis that was identified as a gathering place for several members of the drug trafficking organization.

Source: U.S. Attorney District of Minnesota

Mexican DTOs and criminal groups are also the primary wholesale distributors of powdered cocaine in the state, and street gangs are the principal retail distributors of powdered and crack cocaine. Powdered cocaine and crack, which is converted at stash houses, are distributed at open-air drug markets, public housing projects, private residences, and from vehicles.

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