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St. Paul, Minn.

Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek on drug trafficking

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This morning, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak told Morning Edition's Cathy Wurzer that recreational drug users are contributing to gang violence and his city's rising murder rate.

"Frankly, white middle class Minnesota is buying marijuana and with a little wink and a nod thinking it has nothing to do with anything, it is literally paying for bullets that kill people," Rybak said.

To talk about drug trafficking in the county, we called Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek.

Stanek told MPR News how important drug money is in funding gang activity. While drugs provide a majority share of money for gangs, gang violence is not necessarily drug-related, he said.