DENVER POLICE SEIZING METH AT RECORD PACE

Denver police seized nearly as much methamphetamine in the first six months
of 2002 as they did all of last year, and if the trend continues, officials
could seize a record amount of the drug this year.

In 2001, Denver police seized 36,536 grams of methamphetamine. In the first
six months of this year, 32,301 grams were seized.

Police officials said meth is the state's biggest drug threat because it is
very addictive and can explode during the manufacturing process.

Cocaine and marijuana remain the most widely used drugs in the city. But
officials said meth users more often are manufacturing the drug themselves
in the city, turning motel rooms, apartments and homes into labs.

As a result, police find large amounts of the drug during urban lab raids.
The number of labs raided has doubled every year since 1999.

"It's kind of like the old bathtub gin," said Capt. John Costigan,
commander of Denver's vice and drug control bureau. "Meth is not that
difficult to manufacture. You can buy many of the ingredients over the
counter."

Bev Walz, manger of a Denver-based federal program that keeps track of more
than a dozen drug task forces in Colorado, said meth is the biggest drug
threat facing the state.

The reason is simple, said Costigan and Denver police drug Detective Marty
Vanover. Meth labs can spread poisonous fumes and are explosive. A Denver
blast in January killed two women.

"It is a high priority because the meth labs pose a danger to the
unsuspecting," Vanover said. The drug also is very addictive. "They say
they just can't quit doing it. The only thing they look forward to is
getting high on meth."

While meth investigations are a high priority, officers said they have not
de-emphasized investigations of other drugs, such as cocaine, marijuana and
heroin. Statewide in 2001, the task forces monitored by Walz seized 10,482
pounds of marijuana, 417 pounds of cocaine, 301 pounds of methamphetamines,
six pounds of "club drugs" (93,141 pills) and 4.3 pounds of heroin.

Officers such as Lt. Curt Williams, commander of the Front Range Drug Task
Force, said that Sept. 11 had a big impact on the way some drugs that
originate in Mexico and South America reach Denver. Couriers rarely use
airlines to smuggle marijuana, heroin and cocaine. The drugs now are
smuggled into the country by car, or by people walking across the border.
The individual couriers walk to U.S. "stash houses," and when enough drugs
accumulate, they are driven to Denver, usually by car, but occasionally by
bus or train, he said.

Costigan said he expects marijuana, cocaine and heroin seizures in Denver
this year to equal or surpass amounts seized last year, although statistics
for the first six months - usually the coldest and wettest in Denver - are
relatively low.

"A lot of our seizures occur during the summertime and early fall,"
Costigan said.