STATE DRUG WAR NETS BIG HAUL

State and local police have seized almost $6 million in illegal drugs
over the past 18 months as part of a crackdown on the drug trade in
West Virginia.

Gov. Joe Manchin today was to unveil evidence gathered during two of
the most recent drug raids: 6.5-pounds of crystal methamphetamine and
five kilograms of cocaine, all seized by police during raids in the
Charleston area.

Those drugs alone have a street value of more than $750,000.

When Manchin took office in 2005, he asked state and local police
departments to refocus their efforts on eradicating the drug trade,
which in recent years has become a hotbed of activity by dealers
coming in from out of state.

Since then, the State Police have spearheaded dozens of raids and
made as many arrests, targeting illegal drug operations all over the state.

Drug enforcement officials working undercover have made more than 500
drug buys in the past six months, State Police Col. Dave Lemmon said
this morning. That's as many as were made during the entire year in 2004.

"The governor gave us a mandate, and we've accepted it and we've
really been working hard," Lemmon said. "The amount of meth and coke
we've taken in recently, just around here, that's very uncommon. But
it's going to be ongoing, and we're going to be stepping up the pace
even more."

Manchin pledged during his State of the State address in January to
give the State Police $1 million this year to continue their efforts.
The money, which becomes available July 1, will allow police to work
more undercover operations, set up additional drug buys and get more
drug-related training.

Many of the drug raids over the past year have been centered in
Charleston and Huntington, well known as the base for many of West
Virginia's illegal drug operations.

"Often when discussing economic development we tout our location
advantages, (being) within 500 miles of two-thirds of the nation's
population," Manchin said today. "This is also what makes our state
attractive to the illegal drug trade."

Drug enforcement officials have said they're trying to clamp down on
criminals based in the Detroit area, which has become a major supply
point for drug operations in Charleston and Huntington.

But raids and undercover operations also have recently increased in
Logan, Man, Princeton and Beckley.

"In the Northern Panhandle, we're seeing more and more heroin,"
Lemmon said. "It's coming down from Pennsylvania, from the Pittsburgh
area, and we're seeing more and more of it all the time."

During a press conference early this morning at the State Police
headquarters in South Charleston, Manchin also was to display an
assortment of weapons that had been seized during recent drug raids.

"As long as the money is out there to fuel the drug trade, there will
be weapons and there likely will be violence," Manchin said. "Too
many times in the past several months, we've turned on the news only
to hear about the senseless death of one of our own as a result of
drug-related violence. It's going to stop."

Lemmon said the new $1 million allocation of state funds will allow
the State Police to further collaborate with city and county police
departments and groups like the Metro Drug Unit.

These groups, working with the State Police, busted 213
methamphetamine labs last year. That was up from 17 labs that were
raided in 2001.