AREA COCAINE BUSTS PASS POT CASES

METRICH discusses drug issues at annual banquet

MANSFIELD -- The need for drug task forces like METRICH is growing even as
money to pay for such operations is scarce.

Mansfield Police Chief and METRICH Commander Phil Messer said area cocaine
seizures have surpassed marijuana for the first time and the use of heroin
and pharmaceuticals such as OxyContin are on the rise throughout the unit's
10-county region.

More than 50 officers and politicians gathered for lunch Wednesday at the
Park Avenue Holiday Inn for METRICH's annual banquet.

METRICH serves Ashland, Wyandot, Crawford, Hancock, Huron, Richland, Knox,
Morrow, Marion and Seneca counties.

"We cannot go in and weed out a problem in a neighborhood or city or county
and not go in and (sow) the seeds of change," Messer said. "That is where
the collaboration (of agencies) is essential."

Statistics for 2001 show a 5-percent increase in trafficking arrests and a
drop of 10 percent in distribution locations -- crack houses in
neighborhoods.

The unit also has increased its involvement in neighborhood action groups
and education programs by 58 percent, Messer said.

"When you've had enough, call METRICH," Messer said. "They're going to help
you do something about it."

Community tips were up 23 percent, leading to 135 search warrants and the
confiscation of 82 weapons, an increase of 15 percent and 49 percent,
respectively.

Domingo Herraiz, executive director of Ohio Criminal Justice Services and a
member of Gov. Bob Taft's cabinet, said resources are going to be scarce for
the next two-year budget but the long-term outlook for such collaborative
efforts is promising.

"Gov. Taft wants to see these task forces in every community. The model that
needs to be followed across the state is METRICH," Herraiz said. "We are
grossly under-funded and we are absent a lot of funds to provide."

Assistant U.S. District Attorney Blas Serano was recognized for prosecuting
the unit's cases in federal court on conspiracy and other charges. Messer
said Serano's work on the most recent roundup resulted in all 46 defendants
convicted on charges that sent them to prison for a combined 276 years.

"(METRICH) cases are very, very well investigated and very well organized
and it makes my job easier," Serano said. "Usually they end up pleading
guilty because the evidence is so overwhelming."