DRUG PROBLEM IN CENTRAL UTAH CALLED 'EPIDEMIC'

RICHFIELD -- Drug enforcement officials say the illegal drug trade has
reached "epidemic" proportions in south-central Utah.

Cordell Pearson, commander of the Central Utah Narcotics Task Force, said
more people are involved with drugs on a per capita basis in the rural area
than in some large cities.

In the past few weeks, law enforcement has responded to the problem with a
series of drug busts.

The most recent was in Monroe in Sevier County, and in the small town of
Jerusalem in Sanpete County. There also have been major drug busts in
Garfield County and Millard County, and 15 were arrested in one sweep in
Sanpete County. Methamphetamine labs have been raided during several drug
busts, and a small house in Fillmore was seized for drug violations, the
first time that has happened in Millard County.

Laboratory equipment, narcotics paraphernalia and weapons also have been
seized. Among the weapons that have been seized are rifles, shotguns and
handguns -- some fully loaded.

Authorities say the drugs are being distributed from county to county. It is
believed that the illegal drugs from the two labs recently discovered in
Sevier County were distributed to dealers in Piute, Wayne, Sanpete,
Garfield, Millard and Sevier counties.

And methamphetamine labs can be dangerous, Pearson noted. At a residence
near South Sevier Middle School in Monroe, "There was a great deal of
evidence which indicated the lab had exploded during the process of
manufacturing meth," he said. Residue bled through the paint on a wall and
meth was embedded in linoleum on a floor.