

His path eventually led authorities back to a quiet back yard in the oil boom town of Williston.


The members of this violent gang were all newcomers to Williston. They called themselves "The Family," the federal authorities say, and were holed up in a few campers tucked behind a white-frame house.


The result: seven guilty pleas, prison sentences of up to 20 years and the dismantling of a drug trafficking ring that had been selling meth in one of the fastest-growing corners of America.



Oil rigs light up the night sky.

But the bonanza flourishing also has brought with it a dark side: a growing trade in meth, heroin, cocaine and marijuana, the shadow of sinister cartels and newfound violence.



"Organized drug dealers are smart," said U.S. Attorney Tim Purdon. "They're good businessmen. They go where the demand is and that's what we're seeing here. ... There's simply a lot of money involved, a lot of money flowing around in those communities."

The Bakken Formation -- tens of thousands of square miles of oil-bearing shale under the long, flat prairies of western North Dakota, eastern Montana and part of Canada -- was touted as a modern-day Gold Rush. Thousands flocked here, most law-abiding Americans in search of good-paying jobs. But the lure of big money was a guaranteed draw, too, for troublemakers.

Federal prosecutions in the western half of North Dakota nearly tripled -- from 126 in 2009 to 336 last year -- mostly, Purdon said, because of drug cases involving several people.


"We have a formidable opponent," said Mike Cotter, U.S. attorney in Montana. "They market it well. They move it well, and it's a battle that we have to continue to fight."


Drugs are not new here. Years ago, homegrown meth was a scourge in North Dakota, but its supply was sharply reduced by a crackdown on meth labs and legislation that made it harder to buy ingredients.

Meth still is the most common, but most of it now originates in Mexico. It's more potent and tends to be found in larger quantities. In Ward County, about two hours away, meth seizures jumped from $63,200 in 2012 to $404,600 last year, according to the sheriff's office.

Heroin also is more visible, something that "scares me," said Williams County Sheriff Scott Busching, who deals with a variety of new troubles, including traffic and an overcrowded county jail. 

He said he'd probably rate the drug problem in his county a 7 on a scale of 10.









"We're battling our butts off to stay ahead of this," he added. "Our concern is that ... as people start to compete, the violence will increase. There's nothing less at stake here than our way of life."