Sergeant Luke Hendrickson of the Lake Superior task force briefed the Northern St. Louis County workgroup on recent regional drug trends, saying law enforcement in the Iron Range has increasingly focused on methamphetamine cases and seizures involving larger quantities than a decade earlier.

"The last lab that I dealt with here was 2017," Hendrickson said, describing a shift from local small labs to much larger production and distribution chains he attributed largely to cartel-run operations and cross-border supply. "There's just so much meth coming from the cartels," he told the group.

Hendrickson also said some meth tests have returned positive for fentanyl, noting: "They're actually putting fentanyl in meth," and acknowledged he did not have a definitive explanation for why the two substances were being mixed. He contrasted the duties of Duluth-area investigators, who often pursue suppliers in the metro, with rural investigators who more commonly encounter local middlemen and must prioritize which cases to pursue.

On overdose counts for Duluth and surrounding areas, Hendrickson read preliminary figures for recent years: 186 opioid-related overdoses in 2025 (to date), 280 in 2024 and 479 in 2023. He said fatal overdose totals rose sharply earlier in the decade and that increased Narcan distribution and outreach are likely contributors to lower fatal counts in 2025 so far.

Hendrickson warned that rural surveillance is more difficult because it is harder for law enforcement to use some surveillance techniques in sparsely populated areas; he said the task force must choose priorities to balance seizures and time-consuming overdose investigations.

No formal enforcement actions or policy changes were announced; Hendrickson's briefing was informational. Attendees asked follow-up questions about demographics, evolving drug types (psilocybin, cocaine) and opportunities for multiagency responses; the hosts said they would circulate Hendrickson's stat slides and follow up by email.