Heroin and meth seizures continue to grow in Sioux Falls as police focus on fighting those drugs over lower-level narcotics such as marijuana.

The Sioux Falls Police Department on Tuesday released crime statistics for 2018, showing a marked decrease in the amount of marijuana seized and a dramatic spike in busts involving methamphetamine and opioids, including heroin and fentanyl.

From 2017 to 2018, the amount of seized meth in Sioux Falls ballooned from 11.16 pounds to 56.32 pounds. The amount of heroin jumped from 0.3 pounds in 2017 to 8.44 pounds in 2018.

Meawhile, the amount of marijuana seized by police dropped over the course of a year, going from 284 pounds in 2017 to 91.42 pounds in 2018.

Police Chief Matt Burns said the decrease doesn’t reflect lack of use, but rather the priorities the drug task force is placing on extremely dangerous drugs.

“I don’t think there’s any less marijuana in our city, but we have taken a considerable effort to focus on our controlled substances and go after the bigger drug-trafficking organizations,” Burns said.

Meth has been an ongoing concern and does not show signs of slowing down.

“We’ve never seen as much methamphetamine in our city because the price has never been lower and the supply has never been greater,” Burns said. “We’ve been taking pounds at a time off the street.”

More: Drugs in Sioux Falls: ‘We’re not going to arrest our way out of this problem,’ police chief says

But heroin and other opioids like fentanyl are also on the rise. In 2014, police seized a little over four grams; in 2018, they seized nearly 4,000. Last year, a California man was deemed responsible for the largest fentanyl and heroin bust in South Dakota history.

While Burns said the drug task force would continue to investigate cases involving marijuana, which remains illegal in South Dakota, “you kind of have to point your resources at what’s producing the most harm in your city.”

The National Institute on Drug Abuse says that more than 130 people in the U.S. die every day from opioid overdoses, and the efforts to buy and sell them can also be hazardous.

“Drug trafficking, drug use and drug crime drives the majority of our property crimes and violent crimes,” Burns said, adding that four out of Sioux Falls’ eight murders in 2018 were directly drug-related.

Burns said he and the rest of the police department remain committed to fighting drug trafficking and drug-related offenses in 2019.

“It takes people and ruins their lives,” he said. “It checks them out of a productive family life, being a productive employee, and it just changes the entire dynamic of people.”

More: Law enforcement hopes ‘Narcan 2’ can ‘save a life twice’

Drug seizures in Sioux Falls

Marijuana seizures (in pounds)

2013: 112.414

2014: 237.565

2015: 475.11

2016: 114.797

2017: 284.883

2018: 91.42

Heroin seizures (in grams)

2013: 121.128

2014: 4.13

2015: 8.96

2016: 91.81

2017: 139.85

2018: 3,828.85

Meth seizures (in grams)

2013: 9,239.35

2014: 4,522.89

2015: 4,433.53

2016: 17,227.58

2017: 5,063.97

2018: 25,547.83

Source: Sioux Falls Police Department

Read or Share this story: https://www.argusleader.com/story/news/crime/2019/02/05/meth-heroin-sioux-falls-police-department-marijuana-drugs/2776176002/