METH USE SPURRING CRIME, ARLINGTON CHIEF SAYS

ARLINGTON -- Police chief John Gray said methamphetamine use is the driving
force behind a significant amount of criminal activity in the area,
following the arrests Wednesday of four people and the discovery of a drug
laboratory.

City police, assisted by Snohomish County sheriff's deputies, served a
search warrant in the 23600 block of Highway 9 in a search for a vehicle
and personal property stolen from the Food Pavilion parking lot in
Arlington, Gray said. In the initial search, police found drugs and
ingredients for a meth lab. Investigators then developed an additional
search warrant based on the drug activity, he said.

Snohomish Regional Narcotics Task Force officers assisted in serving the
second warrant, and additional authorities were called in to dispose of the
hazardous and toxic substances used in the drug lab, he said.

Police recovered the stolen property and stolen license plates, and
arrested two men, ages 31 and 33, on outstanding warrants. In addition, the
property owners, a 52-year-old man and 54-year-old woman, were arrested on
investigation of using a building for drug purposes. They were booked into
the Snohomish County Jail, Gray said.

Investigators learned that the property has been the scene of chronic
violations of the county nuisance code because of numerous junked vehicles
and unsafe conditions, he said. County officials plan to initiate a formal
abatement process soon.

Arlington police served a search warrant for stolen auto parts at the same
location last year.

"Arlington, like other communities in north county, has experienced a high
number of vehicle thefts," Gray said. "We are being aggressive in the
apprehension of offenders and the recovery of the vehicles. There is often
a close association between stolen property and drugs."

The discovery Wednesday was an example of that, he said.

"The highly addictive qualities of methamphetamine and the ease of creating
it is now a real and significant problem in Snohomish County," Gray said.