ANTI-DRUG FORCE GETS $1.5M IN ARSENAL

Funding Is Doubled For Central Valley Efforts To Crack Down On Meth Labs.

Valley methamphetamine pushers have more to contend with after the federal
government promised Wednesday to double the money at the disposal of drug
police.

Last year, the Central Valley was declared a High Intensity Drug
Trafficking Area (HIDTA). The federal designation came with an $800,000
grant to coordinate law enforcement efforts among agencies.

That amount will be bumped up to about $1.5 million this year, said Rep.
Cal Dooley, D-Hanford.

Bill Ruzzamenti, director of the Valley's HIDTA program, couldn't be
reached Wednesday evening, but he said last week that he considered
$800,000 to be "significantly under-funded."

"We have a real strong case that we need more money," Ruzzamenti said.

Dooley was pleased with the decision.

"It's another infusion of dollars from the federal level that goes into the
pot with the state and local money to help solve this problem," Dooley said.

The Central Valley HIDTA encompasses nine counties, including Fresno,
Madera, Kings and Tulare.

Drug Enforcement Administration statistics show that more than 90% of the
nation's methamphetamine is produced in California, with half of that
coming from the Central Valley.

"The national importance of targeting enforcement aid to the Central Valley
is clear," Dooley said.

Dooley said he hopes the funding continues to increase in future years.

"We want to be brought up to the same level of funding the original HIDTAs
were at," he said.

"A lot of them were funded at a $2 million-a-year level. We're hopeful that
we can get into that same range in the near future."