Blow. Nose candy. Snowball.

It’s all cocaine.

In the Billings area recently, cocaine trafficking has ensnared athletes, a public official, a business owner and many others.

Some law enforcement officials say cocaine activity is increasing. And while prosecutions may be up, others say cocaine has always been a significant problem in the region.

“Cocaine use is up, and that is undeniable,” said U.S. Attorney Bill Mercer. “Clearly we have a rampant demand for cocaine in Billings. It’s been a pretty hot time.”

Evidence of that demand is the latest cocaine conspiracy alleged in federal court. Ten people have been charged, five of whom have pleaded guilty.

The main local dealer, ex-Billings Outlaws football player Shon Flores, pleaded guilty to a conspiracy that brought 9 kilos of cocaine, or almost 20 pounds, from Salt Lake City to Billings for distribution in the community and elsewhere in Montana. The conspiracy ran for nearly a year, until July.

The Flores conspiracy is the third high-profile cocaine case in Billings in about the past year. So far, 22 defendants have been charged or convicted in the three cases, which represent an estimated 41 pounds of cocaine.

Former Denver Broncos running back Travis Henry and a co-defendant were sentenced to prison earlier this year for trafficking an estimated 5 kilograms, about 11 pounds, of cocaine from Denver to Billings for nearly two years until September 2008.

And former Carbon County Attorney Robert Eddleman and Billings businesswoman and interior designer Terri Jabs Kurth are serving federal sentences for convictions related to a larger conspiracy. The pair admitted making cocaine available at parties they hosted. The bigger case accuses Billings resident Domingo Baez and two others with trafficking about 5 kilos of cocaine in Yellowstone and Carbon counties for four years until September 2008. The three are awaiting trial. Another five defendants have pleaded guilty in a companion case.

Since January, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has charged or completed cocaine prosecutions statewide against 38 defendants, about double the number of defendants charged annually four or five years ago, Mercer said. He expects there will be more cocaine prosecutions before the end of the year.

Federal prosecutors charge cases involving 500 grams, or about 1.1 pounds, where an offense carries at least a minimum mandatory sentence of at least five to 40 years in prison for someone with no criminal history. 

Perennial problem

Cocaine has always been the largest percentage of cases DEA works in the region and continues to be a major concern, said Jeffrey Sweetin, DEA’s special agent in charge of the Denver Division, which includes Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and Montana.

“Cocaine continues to be a large part of what we do,” Sweetin said.

Sweetin isn’t ready to say there is more cocaine in Montana. An increase in cases charged may be just a blip, he said. It’s logical to assume, however, that when one supplier gets busted, another provider will fill the vacuum. The new source may have a temporarily expanded the market, but creating new drug connections makes for a vulnerable operation, Sweetin said.

In 2008, cocaine was found in Montana’s larger communities but not widely available throughout the state, according to DEA reports. Billings, Great Falls and the Blackfeet Indian Reservation were the primary locations for cocaine use.

Mexican drug organizations are responsible for distributing most of the cocaine, along with meth, marijuana and heroin, in Montana. These organizations have sources of supply in Colorado, the Southwest border, the Pacific Northwest and Mexico, the DEA report said. 

Both Mercer and Sweetin say Montana’s hardball approach to the dangers of meth through graphic advertisements and prosecutions and the national restrictions on the availability of meth ingredients has yielded results.

“I don’t think there’s any question the demand is down,” Mercer said.

Although still a problem, meth is not as pervasive, they said.

Cocaine has not spurred that same level of awareness and tends to get left out of the debate, Sweetin said.

Drug of choice

A drug market analysis released in March by the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Drug Intelligence Center said cocaine abuse has increased in the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. The region includes Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and portions of Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska.

The demand for cocaine has surged in some areas, possibly because of abusers switching from meth to cocaine, which they perceive as less harmful to their health, the report said.

“New illicit users now view methamphetamine as a ‘full-time’ drug with dangerous consequences, while cocaine is viewed as an ‘occasional, casual drug’ without long-term health consequences.”

Cocaine has some status because it is expensive relative to meth and tends to be used more by professionals who make good incomes, Sweetin said. Those people can afford an ounce of cocaine, which can sell for $1,500 to $2,000, he said. A kilo of cocaine runs about $20,000. A dose is about one-fifth of a gram.  

Cocaine traffickers, unlike meth dealers, usually don’t get into dealing because they like to snort a gram, Sweetin said. “These guys are in it to make money. They’re organized criminals. These are pretty high-level guys and they’re dealing with dangerous people,” he said.

Rimrock Foundation in Billings treats cocaine addicts but has not seen a surge in those seeking help, said Mona Sumner, the foundation’s chief operations officer. “We’ve seen a slight tick upward in cocaine in our adult population” over previous years, she said. “But it’s slight. It doesn’t even begin to compare with the opiates and prescription drug abuse.”

Cocaine has always been the drug of choice for wealthy users, Sumner said. Cocaine, like meth, is a stimulant but doesn’t have all the downsides, she said. The high is not as long lasting and cocaine is not as toxic to the body, at least initially, as meth, she said.

Billings has had a cocaine problem for a long time, Sumner said. Rimrock Foundation had been hearing about cocaine parties being hosted by Eddleman and Kurth before they got indicted.

“We actually had people in treatment that attended those parties. That had gone on for years,” she said. “These are not things that just cropped up overnight. I think we’ve had the problem for a very long time.”