Drug busts have punch

The undercover agents who work for the Utah County Major Crimes Task Force don't look like typical police officers.

Instead of flat tops or crew cuts, they wear their hair long and unruly. Some don't shave. Others wear earrings and tattoos. And in the place of a badge they sometimes wear nothing but stains on their shirts.

In other words, they look like the type of men who might buy drugs.

Which is exactly the point.

In the past year, the 25 sworn officers who make up the task force have taken nearly $1.5 million in illicit drugs off the streets of Utah County. They have seized thousands of grams of cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin.

They have arrested street-level hustlers, midlevel drug runners, and distributors with direct connections to Mexican drug cartels. All told, the task force has made 790 arrests in the past year.

"For 25 guys that's a pretty good statistic," says Lt. Mike Forshee, the task force's field director. "We have a big drug problem in Utah County, but we do make an impact. Salt Lake drug dealers won't come down here because of our enforcement."

The task force works from the basement of the Orem Courthouse, behind a secured door accessible only by code. The walls are covered with maps of Utah County, mug shots and organizational charts of drug distribution rings based in Salt Lake and Utah counties. The task force's focus is on eradicating narcotics and the gangs that sell them.

Some busts in the last year stand out more than others.

In March, an anonymous tip led officers to an Orem restaurant where they seized $200,000 worth of methamphetamine. The officers found four pounds of the drug, which is sold for $100 to $120 per gram, in an employee's locker. There are 28.3 grams in an ounce.

On May 23, after a two-month undercover sting, officers executed a search warrant on three houses in Utah County, where they seized a pound of meth and 2.5 ounces of cocaine. They arrested five people.

On Dec. 1, task force officers executed one of their most significant busts of the year when they arrested a drug runner and a 22-year-old distributor in Payson who had direct connections to manufacturers in Mexico. They also seized 3.5 ounces of meth, 10 ounces of cocaine and three firearms.

"People don't think this kind of stuff goes on in Utah County," Forshee said. "But this is happening every day."