TASK FORCE FIGHTS DRUGS IN 16 COUNTIES

MARYVILLE, Mo. - Criminals rarely pay attention to county lines, and
neither did nine northwestern Missouri sheriffs who decided a few years ago
to work together to pursue those who make and sell narcotics.

A lack of money ultimately doomed the Northwest Missouri Narcotics
Enforcement Team, which disbanded in January of last year after producing
several dozen arrests but also sticking some counties with large bills.

Now, the multicounty approach to fighting the rural drug trade is being
revived, this time with federal help.

Sixteen counties will be served by NITRO, the Northwest Missouri
Interagency Team Response Operation recently announced by U.S. Attorney
Todd Graves.

Focusing primarily on combating drugs and gun-related violent crime, NITRO
is made up of one officer each from the Maryville and Cameron, Mo., police
departments; a trooper from the Missouri Highway Patrol; and agents from
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms out of Kansas City.

An assistant prosecutor from Graves' office will be assigned full time to
NITRO cases, while the ATF will also provide training, vehicles and equipment.

"We are all acutely aware of the limitation of both manpower and finances
to combat crime in this part of the state," Graves said.

"But by working together, federal, state and local agencies will generate
the critical mass needed to aggressively investigate and prosecute
narcotics trafficking, illegal gun activity and violent crime in Northwest
Missouri," he said

Keith Wood, Maryville's director of public safety, welcomed the initiative.
The work of the short-lived Narcotics Enforcement Team showed the value of
a multicounty approach, he said, while the state and federal involvement
shows that the region still has a serious crime problem.

"It's indicative of the scale of the problem for them to dedicate all of
these resources," he said.