EXPAND THE METH FIGHT

FBI Must Continue -- And Increase -- Presence In Region.

Those involved in the struggle against methamphetamine production in the
Valley -- which should be all of us -- were concerned recently when it
appeared the FBI might reassign agents essential to the effort. Thus it's
comforting to hear that FBI officials have now said the agents will stay on
the meth case. It would be even better to hear that the agency's efforts
will be expanded.

The depth of the methamphetamine problem in the Central Valley was
well-chronicled in a special 18-page section by reporters from the Fresno,
Modesto and Sacramento Bee newspapers in October. That prompted the Central
Valley Methamphetamine Summit in January, which brought together elected
officials and law-enforcement agencies to develop strategies to combat the
social, environmental and individual ravages that the destructive drug
cultivates.

The talk of FBI personnel cutbacks united area congressmen and the state's
two senators in urging the agency not to pull back any of its agents from
the meth fight. Six lawmakers -- Democratic Reps. Cal Dooley of Hanford and
Robert Matsui of Sacramento, Republican Reps. George Radanovich of Mariposa
and Bill Thomas of Bakersfield, and Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara
Boxer -- wrote FBI Director Louis Freeh asking him for assurances that the
current FBI presence in the methamphetamine assault will be maintained,
and, in addition, asking that federal resources for the fight be increased.

The arguments for that course are persuasive:

Ninety percent of the nation's methamphetamine is produced in California;
about half of that is manufactured in the Valley.

The region is littered with meth operations. In a year of operation, the
Central Valley's High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area arrested 221 suspects
and dismantled 56 meth labs.

The FBI's Eastern District of California, home to Fresno, Modesto,
Sacramento and Stockton, has the fewest agents per residents among the
state's four districts. FBI staffing in the Eastern District, when adjusted
for population, is the 46th worst among the agency's 56 divisions.

Those are the numbers. The Bee report in October told of the lives
destroyed and the economic and environmental implications of meth. We hope
Freeh will heed the plea of the Valley lawmakers and expand the FBI's role
in the battle.