CENTRAL VALLEY WILL GET $1.5 MILLION TO FIGHT METH

Nearly $1.5 million in federal money will help drug agents battle
methamphetamine in the Central Valley this year.

The Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted
unanimously to accept the funding for a nine-county effort based here.

The $1.487 million for 2001 is the same as for 2000, and the fight
against methamphetamine could be bolstered in two other ways. Gov.
Davis is proposing $50 million statewide in his budget for the next
fiscal year, and a summit in Fresno on Tuesday could eventually lead
to more federal money.

The funding accepted by the board Tuesday is for the federally
designated High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, stretching between
Sacramento and Kern counties. It was established in 1999 because of
the large number of methamphetamine labs in the region.

"We believe that this will certainly support the board's goal of a
safe community, not only in a law enforcement aspect, but these labs
leave hazardous wastes behind, so also from a public health
standpoint," said Pat Glattke, business manager for the Stanislaus
County Sheriff's Department.

She reported these accomplishments in the region for the first 11
months of 2000:

Uncovering 78 labs, including 54 "superlabs" that could turn out more
than 20 pounds of methamphetamine per batch.

Arresting 312 people and dismantling 21 suspected trafficking operations.

Seizure of 412 pounds of methamphetamine, 50 pounds of heroin, 97
pounds of cocaine, 648 pounds of harvested marijuana and 13,401
marijuana plants.

Help for 38 children endangered by drug operations.

Discovering 25 dump sites with methamphetamine ingredients.

"I would say our valley has become a safer place because of the
success of this program," said Reagan Wilson, the county's chief
executive officer.

The Fresno summit brought together legislators, law enforcement
leaders and other people looking for solutions to the methamphetamine
problem. Stanislaus County Sheriff Les Weidman attended with the hope
that more federal funding might be provided, Glattke said.

The state spending proposed by Davis includes $40 million for
equipment purchases and other law enforcement support, and $10.5
million to supplant federal funding of the statewide California
Methamphetamine Strategy.