The Unified Narcotics Enforcement Team (UNET) is a multi-agency drug task force. The Rapid City Police Department is one of several agencies that make up the UNET, which is operated as part of the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI). Other agencies that make up the UNET include the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigations, Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the South Dakota National Guard.
The UNET’s primary responsibility is the investigation of all drug related offences in the area. Local agency members of the UNET are all sworn Special Assistants to the Attorney General and have statewide jurisdiction. The team works in the Pennington, Fall River, Custer, and Meade county areas.
The UNET’s aggressive stance on drug enforcement has been effective in the seizure of large quantities of marijuana, crystal methamphetamine, and other controlled drugs and the subsequent arrests and convictions of numerous drug offenders in the area.
Members of the UNET may also be called upon to assist with murder investigations, murder-for-hire investigations, and undercover assignments.
2013 UNET Statistics:
- 143 drug-related investigations
- 65 drug-related search warrants executed
- $665,982 cash and property seized during investigations
- 430 pounds of marijuana seized
- 58 pounds of methamphetamine seized
- $4.6 million: street value of meth and marijuana UNET dealt with in 2013
- 68 firearms seized
If you have a tip or concern about drug activity in your neighborhood, contact UNET at 394-1884 or submit an anonymous tip.