Courtesy Photo A scale weights a cache of cocaine seized by the Huron Undercover Narcotics Team in an Alpena drug raid in 2017.

HARRISVILLE — An undercover task force on the west side of the state has seen a sharp increase in incidences of loaded weapons found during drug investigations, notably in the Gaylord area, police said during a Thursday meeting of Northeast Michigan’s undercover task force.

Gaylord is “not that far from here,” Detective 1st Lt. Kip Belcher of the Michigan State Police-7th District told the Board of Directors for the Huron Undercover Narcotics Team, or HUNT, during its quarterly meeting on Thursday.

HUNT is a team of officers representing law enforcement agencies across the four-county region.

Following the west-to east pattern observed by local law enforcement over past years, it can be assumed that the Alpena area will soon see an increase of fire-ready weapons in the homes and hands of drug-related criminals, Belcher said.

In the illegal drug trade, Northeast Michigan is about a year behind the west and south portions of the state, said Michigan State Police Detective Lt. Stuart Sharp, HUNT commander.

Crystal methamphetamine, or “ice,” has become increasingly more popular elsewhere in the state in recent years, with downstate meth labs becoming less prevalent because the substance can be purchased so cheaply and easily from Mexico, Sharp reported.

Prevalence of the drug has been moving north — a half-pound of crystal meth, enough for 4,500 doses, was seized in Grand Traverse County last week — and, evidence shows, has now made its way into Alpena, Sharp said, and is becoming widespread.

“We’re seeing that everywhere,” he said. “We have more information than we can shake a stick at.”

Sharp referenced a recent arrest by a trooper at the Michigan State Police-Alpena Post after a couple, delusional from a multi-day binge of crystal meth, reported intruders into their house based on footage from a home security system. Because of the drug’s influence, the pair didn’t realize that they were watching themselves on camera and seeing figures moving in what was actually an empty room.

An almost comical situation is, at second glance, telling of the awful powers of a drug that has become a presence in Northeast Michigan.

“The substances that are coming, the substances that are out there right now, are affecting the mental health of our communities,” Sharp said. “The substances out there are so psychoactive that people are doing things that are absolutely barbaric.”

Within the next six months, the detective predicted, “this is going to be out of control in our area. There is no doubt in my mind.”

A partnership with Homeland Security Investigations allows HUNT to receive information about federally illegal and highly substances being intercepted at major airports, or hidden, undetectable, in mailed packages.

“And those are coming to our area,” Sharp said. “This is scary. It’s very scary.”

Meeting at the Alcona County courthouse, the HUNT board discussed the value of local representation as the task force works to eradicate drug crime in the area.

The work of the HUNT team is the proactive side of law enforcement, said Capt. Michael Caldwell, Michigan State Police-7th District commander.

“Our uniformed deputies are responding to the aftermath of crimes,” he said. “It’s our undercover teams that go out and collect intelligence and identify offenders and get them locked up before those things happen, before the overdoses. Before the murders. Before the armed robberies.”

Caldwell encouraged counties to continue to support the team’s work, despite tight budgets.

Sharp described his team’s work in the past week that resulted in the arrest of a known violent offender who is also a suspected meth dealer, an effort that required complex undercover techniques and multiple team members from the multi-jurisdictional task force, working at different levels in the community.

“We’re local, and we’re effective,” Sharp said.

Presque Isle County Sheriff Joe Brewbaker shared with enthusiasm the successful addition of a HUNT officer from Presque Isle County. The officer, who began work with HUNT in the spring, has had a large impact on the effectiveness of city and county officers because of his knowledge about drug crime, Brewbaker said. The officer’s work with HUNT led to two arrests for potential dealers of LSD last week, arrests that would probably not have been made without the presence of a local officer on the HUNT team.

The Presque Isle County officer will remain a part of HUNT despite funding cuts that followed state budget vetoes by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in the past month and the recent loss of other department personnel, Brewbaker said, because of the value his position adds to the community.

“I just wish we could have done it years ago,” Brewbaker said.

Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693, jriddle@thealpenanews.com or on Twitter @jriddleX.

In other business

The Huron Undercover Narcotics Team Board of Directors on Thursday also:

∫ heard from Michigan State Police Detective Lt. Stuart Sharp, HUNT commander, on the group’s financial activity in the past quarter, including a request from the state for the purchase of an additional vehicle, equipped with specialized equipment.

∫ approved the budget for the 2019-20 fiscal year and reviewed a report of the team’s activities. One team member was recently sent to specialized drug-detection training in California, Sharp reported, and another attended meth lab training in Quantico, Virginia.

∫ heard that HUNT will distribute a cell phone grip attachment with the words “Brave, Strong, Smart” to girls at local schools, part of the team’s campaign to bolster the self esteem of young women who fall prey to drug abuse or trafficking.