MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY

NEWS ADVISORY
Bruce Gordon, Director of Communications

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:

Sept. 24, 2019 Scott Wasserman, 651-201-7571
Alcohol
and Gambling
Enforcement
NEWS CONFERENCE: 75,000 THC VAPING CARTRIDGES
Bureau of SEIZED IN RECORD DRUG BUST
Criminal Law Enforcement and State Officials to Highlight Dangers of Vaping THC
Apprehension

Driver WHAT: The Northwest Metro Drug Task Force ), and the Minnesota
and Vehicle
Services
Departments of Public Safety (DPS) and Health (MDH) will hold a
news conference to discuss a record amount of THC vaping cartridges
Emergency seized in Anoka County on Monday.
Communication
Networks
The 75,000 THC cartridges are believed to have come from out of state
Homeland for distribution in Minnesota.
Security and
Emergency
Management Law enforcement and health officials are extremely concerned about the
Minnesota dangers of vaping. Hospitals across the country and here in Minnesota
State Patrol have recently reported hospitalizations and deaths linked to vaping. In
some cases, patients reported vaping THC.
Office of
Communications
The Northwest Metro Drug Task Force is a Violent Crime Enforcement
Office of
Justice Programs
Team (VCET). VCETs are multijurisdictional task forces that
investigate narcotics, gangs and violent crime. There are 21 VCETs
Office of covering 70 Minnesota counties.
Pipeline Safety

Office of WHEN: Tuesday, Sept. 24, 4:30 p.m.

Traffic Safety

State Fire Marshal WHERE: New Hope Police Department

4401 Xylon Ave. N.
New Hope

WHO: Chief Tim Fournier, New Hope Police Department

Assistant Commissioner Booker Hodges, Minnesota Department of
Public Safety
Assistant Commissioner Daniel Huff, Minnesota Department of
Health
Brian Marquart, DPS Office of Justice Programs statewide gang and
drug coordinator

445 Minnesota Street, Suite 100 • Saint Paul, Minnesota 55101-5155 • dps.mn.gov • facebook.com/MnPublicSafety • @MnDPS_DPS
 Background:
 Drug seizures for Minnesota’s Violent Crime Enforcement Teams (VCETs) increased in several
major drug categories in 2018.

VCET Drug Seizures

Drug 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Methamphetamine
(Pounds) 223.46 230.32 487.71 624.5 1,145
Prescription (Pills) 18,398 17,717 58,578 214,429 16,513
Hashish or
Marijuana Wax
(Pounds) 7.82 27.49 34.72 74.4 160.22
Heroin (Pounds) 12.27 18.11 10.9 42.23 24.98
Marijuana (Pounds) 1,269.26 2,268.92 2,194.11 4,323.4 2,675
Cocaine (Pounds) 11.55 12.89 37.43 35.65 59.18
Crack (Pounds) 2.45 2.1 1.3 1.08 .28