Drug Task Force Back In Action

Editorial | May 29th, 2015

They’re back. Recently, we learned that SEMCA (Southeast Multi-County Agency Drug Task Force) is back in action on the campus of the ND State College of Science in Wahpeton.

You may remember this same task force was responsible for busting Andrew Sadek on campus at NDSCS, which ultimately lead to his work as an informant. Sadek ended up dead right before his graduation. The case still has not been solved.

Sadek was reportedly threatened with over 20 years of jail time for selling $80 worth of pot on campus. Because it was on campus, the charges could be higher. Sadek became an informant, went missing and was later found dead in the Red River with rocks in his backpack and a gunshot wound to the head. He was busted by an informant, himself. His death was investigated by campus police, strangely enough.

This controversial murder case went viral and made national news this past spring after a report by the ND Attorney General’s office tried to clear SEMCA of any wrong doing. Outrage spread across the country. The whole incident screams for an independent review of Sadek’s work as an informant, a qualified investigation into his death and look at the work of SEMCA by someone who is not overseeing the organization’s work and doesn’t have a biased view in seeing it continue.

Apparently, the cycle continues. We hadn’t heard much from SEMCA after that uproar until May, when a 21-year-old Breckenridge man, who has name and picture is plastered all over local media outlets, was arrested for selling six ADHD pills to a SEMCA informant on NDSCS campus. Each pill has a $20 street value. This man now faces three felony counts of delivery of a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a school, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

So here we have another person who may be forced into becoming an informant himself or have his entire life ruined for selling $120 worth of ADHD pills. We are not condoning the sale of drugs, but could the punishment fit the crime at least? Should college age students without a record have their entire lives ruined for selling a minimal amount of some of the most harmless drugs out there? Should they face the same charges as a heroin or meth dealer just because they sold the drugs on campus?

What happens if this man from Breckenridge ends up choosing to be an informant? Could he too wind up dead over six ADHD pills? Is this really what we want our law enforcement doing? Are parents of NDSCS students staying up all night worrying about their kids smoking pot at school or taking a few ADHD pills to finish a test?

Stuff like this happens at campuses all across the county. Once you violate the law, of course you have a right to be busted. But is it necessary for a task force to threaten people with decades of jail time over minimal amounts of drug dealing? And what will be the impact of pressuring all these young kids into becoming informants, thereby putting their own safety in jeopardy.

If Andrew Sadek can wind up dead for selling $80 worth of pot, anyone can. Is this really what we want our state to be known for? Don’t we have bigger problems to worry about?

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