Southwest Minnesota drug investigators are now using text messages as a tool to get tips. The Buffalo Ridge Drug Task Force is the first drug unit in the country to use a program called Tip411.

Texting is one of the most popular ways for teens to talk. And drug agents in Southwest Minnesota want to get in on the conversation, using text messages as a tool that leads to tips.

"This puts task force agents basically at their finger tips and a lot of young people we deal with, their preferred method of communication is through texting," Buffalo Ridge Drug Task Force Commander Troy Appel said.

Tip411 is a new program being used in Rock, Pipestone, Murray and Nobles Counties to help lead investigators to the next major drug bust.

"Many of the cases we put together are either initiated or developed based on public information so this is just another source of public information," Appel said.

The text tips are sent to an anonymous database.  Investigators can send an instant message back to the tipster to ask a follow up question but can't trace it back to the sender.

"There really is no risk of any type of disclosure later on down the road in any type of court proceeding because we simply don't have the information on where the texts are coming from," Appel said.

Tipsters can also text other crime information to Tip411, and the drug agents will forward them to other officers.

Each county has its own code that needs to be texted to Tip411 (847411)

Include these codes in the body of the message along with your tip:

Nobles County: 372DTF

Murray County: 836DTF

Pipestone County: 825DTF

Rock County: 283DTF