O.C. Drug War: A Losing Battle? : Crime: Despite recent seizures of tons of drug and millions of dollars, local authorities concede that it’s still cheap and plentiful on the streets.

Orange County Sheriff Brad Gates proudly says that recent drug seizures have removed “60 million doses” of cocaine from circulation and have relieved drug traffickers of several million dollars, but even he is reluctant to say just what impact such large-scale raids have on the cocaine trade.

“We’ve had input from some of our people on the street that occasionally they’ve seen the price of cocaine go up in the last month or two,” Gates said. “Obviously, we’re having an impact. But we don’t know how to quantify it at this point. I don’t think we can say the price of cocaine is going up yet.”

Capt. Tim Simon, head of the county’s Regional Narcotics Suppression Program, said the drug bust announced Thursday would have little effect on the street price of cocaine in Orange County because the drug network that was broken up after a six-month investigation was set up to distribute large quantities of cocaine across the United States, not small amounts within the county.

Meanwhile, narcotics officers from local police agencies say they have seen little or no change in the street price of cocaine since it fell from a steady $100 a gram a few years ago. And while the wholesale price of a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of cocaine has gone up somewhat in the past year or so, it still costs only one-half to one-fourth of the price several years ago.

“It used to be that it cost $100 a gram on the street, no matter what the wholesale price was,” said Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Tom Boylan. Now, a gram can cost as little as $20 or as much as $80, he said. “It depends on so many things, including how much it’s cut down.”

Wholesale prices of cocaine have increased somewhat, ranging between $13,000 and $18,000 a kilo--or 5% to 20% more than last year--but are still far less than the $45,000 a kilo commanded a few years ago or the $65,000 of the 1970s. But the price increase is not enough to convince Boylan that the higher prices are the result of drug seizures.

“I’d like to think the impact we’re having has driven it up some, and that may be the case,” Boylan said. “If we saw a tremendous increase, then you’d know. If we go back up to $30,000 a kilo, there would be no question about it.”

Anaheim Police Lt. Vince Howard said that his narcotics officers are also seeing a small increase in the wholesale price of cocaine, but no real change in the street price of $50 to $60 a gram.

“We like to think that we’re making a big difference, but they seem to be replacing it as soon as we take it away,” Howard said. “We’re not going to really stop it, when they’ve got 20 tons stored in a warehouse, until all those people quit using it.”

J.D. Miles, head of the state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement in Orange County, was more positive about the impact of the recent seizures.

Miles estimated that the wholesale price of a kilo of cocaine has increased from $10,000 to $18,000 over the last year. Demand for the drug has leveled off, he said, while seizures have reduced the supply.

“We are making some sort of dent here,” Miles said. “Certainly, the seizures of dope and money are having a small effect.”

Times staff writer Dan Weikel contributed to this report.