Law enforcement agents track movement of drugs and money

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – If you are trying to find the drugs of choice in Eastern Iowa, just look at the overdose cases that come in.

“Through the medical examiner's office, we've had seven drug-related deaths in 2011,” said Dr. Don Linder, Linn County Medical Examiner. ”That is much higher than we've seen in the past.”

Dr. Linder said the area has had a “baseline clientele” for cocaine for decades. Yet he, and others who track drugs in Eastern Iowa, say heroin is becoming more and more of a problem.

“We believe there is a pure form of heroin that has moved into our region," Linder said.

The Drug Enforcement Agency has 226 domestic offices, including one office in downtown Cedar Rapids.

Special Agent Mark McHugh said the mission of the DEA is to disrupt the flow of drug trafficking organizations and tracking the money that goes back to the drug suppliers.

McHugh asked not to be quoted, directly, for this story but he did talk, at length, about how drugs flow into Eastern Iowa.

Through years of investigating the origin of illegal drugs, the agency tells us how certain drugs get here:

• Meth/ICE: From Mexico through drug trafficking organizations (DTOs)

• Meth Labs: Produced by independent local cooks.

• Cocaine/Heroin: Originally from Mexico but imported into Chicago before distribution.

• Marijuana: From Mexico, the west coast of the U.S. and indoor growers here.

Agents believe that drug distribution is even easier in Eastern Iowa than in, for example, Chicago. A large city with a drug organization presence can intimidate buyers and sellers. Yet, in cities here, there is no large-scale gang organization already in place. The agency believes this actually makes distributing cocaine and crack-cocaine between seller and drug user easier and without as much fear.

The DEA also insists that each major metro area in Eastern Iowa has different drug needs:

• Waterloo: Meth, Ice, Heroin, Cocaine, Marijuana

• Cedar Rapids: Meth Labs, Cocaine, Heroin

• Iowa City: Meth, MDMA (Ecstasy), Cocaine, Heroin

• Dubuque: Meth (Red Phosphorus), Cocaine

Federal agents work with local agencies to try and stop drugs and money. Both Cedar Rapids Police and the Linn County Sheriff's Office say drugs are not contained to certain cities or even neighborhoods.

Within the Cedar Rapids Police Department, Captain Steve O'Konek works closely with the drug investigators in the department. He also said they are “seeing a trend” with more heroin use and that drug addiction leads to other issues.

“People will steal things to get money to buy drugs,” said O'Konek. ”If you have that influence in the community, you will have all of the other crimes associated with that."

Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner acknowledges that roads like I-380, U.S. 30 and U.S. 151 are major arteries for drivers to deliver drugs. I-380 runs one block from his office in Cedar Rapids.

”We are at a crossroads of traffic,” said Gardner. ”We have drug traffic that runs north and south. It all comes through here, in the heart of Cedar Rapids.”

Gardner said the meth presence of a few years ago tapered off but it is now easier to produce meth in smaller quantities, such as through vehicles instead of homes or barns.

“We know drugs are there,” said Gardner. ”We haven't hit the mother-lode that you sometimes want to, but it is just a matter of finding them.”