TRI-STATE BATTLE AGAINST METH RAGES ON

KINGMAN - Methamphetamine is the most destructive, addicting drug on
the market.

Law enforcement agencies from three states are waging its never-ending
war on meth in the Tri-state. About 65 to 70 percent of all drug
arrests involve methamphetamine.

California outlaw motorcycle gangs were the first to bring in
methamphetamine from California into Mohave County and Arizona about
20 years ago. The drug has since spread eastward across the country.

Bullhead City Police Chief Rodney Head said meth and marijuana are the
drugs of choice and are easily accessible in the Tri-state. Meth can
be cheaply produced with little knowledge of chemistry and common
household items.

Sheriff Tom Sheahan said education is one of the main tools the
sheriff's office uses to fight the use of meth in the county. The
sheriff office's Drug Abuse Resistance Education program is aimed at
elementary students in the schools in the unincorporated areas of the
county.

Another key in the war on meth is law enforcement working with local
retailers to monitor unusual purchases of ingredients such as iodine,
matches or coffee filters used to make the drug.

Bullhead City and Kingman, as well as Phoenix and Tucson, recently
restricted the purchase of over-the-counter drugs such as
pseudoephedrine at local pharmacies within city limits.

Pseudoephedrine and ephedrine are main ingredients used to make
methamphetamine, the drug directly or indirectly responsible for the
majority of crimes.

The sheriff's K-9 team is also instrumental in fighting meth. Police
dogs save deputies valuable time and manpower in searching homes or
vehicles for meth.

Sheahan said the number of meth labs found has decreased in recent
years because of the persistent enforcement and the increasing
difficulty in buying items used to make meth.

Meth production has shifted to Mexico where large "super labs" can
produce larger and cheaper amounts of, and better quality, meth.
Mexico does not have the regulations that this country has to purchase
ingredients used to make the drug.

State legislatures are also joining in the fight against meth. A
recently passed Arizona ballot measures gives judges the option to
sending first- and second-time meth users to jail or prison instead of
probation.

Mohave County Superior Court has also recently established a drug
court aimed specifically at juvenile drug offenders.

About 60 to 70 percent of the inmates at the county jail are in
custody because crimes they committed are indirectly related to meth
use, Sheahan said. Meth users resort to committing property crimes,
fraud and identity theft crimes.

In December, Mohave County also contributed $117,988 to Maricopa
County to be used for the Arizona Meth Project, which is based on the
Montana Meth Project, an anti-drug project in that state.

The prevention project will use advertising in radio, newspapers,
television and the Internet targeting young people and adults of the
risks of meth use.

The people who use meth can be any race, any age and people with high,
middle or low incomes. Sheahan said even seniors in their 70s have
been arrested for using meth.

Meth destroys one's physical appearance including the teeth, face and
internal organs.

Elementary age children tend to try marijuana, alcohol and other drugs
instead of meth. Children tend to graduate to meth in their early to
mid-teens, Sheahan said.

Children whose parents use meth are also more likely to follow in
their parents' footsteps and use the drug.

Formed in 1988, the Mohave Area General Narcotic Enforcement Team is
made up of officers from the Kingman, Bullhead and Lake Havasu City
police departments, the Mohave County Sheriff's Office and the Arizona
Department of Public Safety.

MAGNET officers also assist officers from the San Bernardino County
Sheriff's Office in Needles, the Fort Mojave Tribal Police and the Las
Vegas Metro Police Department in Laughlin as well as agents from the
federal Drug Enforcement Agency in its war on drugs, especially meth
and meth labs.

Meth labs in the Laughlin area are also becoming rare but the use of
meth - especially at the hotels and casinos - has seen a steady
increase, according to the Las Vegas Metro Police Department.

One method is undercover operations that include the area's hotels and
casinos. Metro police officers also conduct highway stops as another
tool to search for drugs.

Officers conduct the "knock and talk" method of knocking on doors and
talking to Laughlin citizens to gather information on the drug trade.

Las Vegas Metro police also target elementary students on the dangers
of meth with its DARE program.