NARCOTICS TASK FORCE ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2005

The 2005 annual report from the Butte County Interagency Narcotics
Task Force (BINTF) was unveiled during a press conference at the
Probation Department Thursday.

District Attorney Mike Ramsey said this report reflects BINTF's 20th
anniversary since it was first created in October 1985.

BINTF is comprised of officers, detectives, and agents from the
District Attorney's office, police departments of Oroville, Chico,
Paradise, Gridley-Biggs, the Butte County Sheriff's Office,
California Department of Justice, and the county's probation
department. The task force originated in Oroville and has since
expanded to include a division in Chico.

The task force investigates and arrests drug traffickers and
violators of drug laws; networks with law enforcement agencies;
provides training to agents; and gives public education presentations.

"BINTF's premiere agenda deals with the scourge of drugs, and it also
gathers intelligence on criminal activity," Ramsey said.

The task force's initial goals have expanded to include surveillance
of those on probation or parole involved with gang and drug-related
activity. Also, BINTF identifies and arrests violators of drug laws
while rescuing children at risk in drug environments.

"We are leading the country in innovative and effective efforts, such
as the Drug-Endangered Children's (DEC) Program, Drug Court, and
Prop. 36 Court," Ramsey said.

"The DEC program has saved hundreds of children's lives and has gone
national to numerous states. Two social workers work with our task
force to save children, and we get parents prosecuted and held
accountable for their actions," Commander Lacey of BINTF North County said.

In 2005, the DEC team had 113 DEC investigations and BINTF responded
to 233 children. These children received social services from family
treatment plans to reunification and/or minimal supervision," the
report said. There were 41 cases where endangerment charges were
filed, and 10 children were found living in homes with drug labs, the
report said.

Butte County's DEC team ranks third in California per capita for
number of children rescued from meth labs. The report said DEC's
motto is "Defend, Rescue, Shelter, Support," and the program's
coordinator Sue Webber Brown was honored in 2005 with an award from
the California Narcotics Officer's Association.

BINTF also focuses on prevention, education and treatment. "Meth is a
public health crisis that affects everyone," Ramsey said. "Drug
problems are not solved by BINTF alone." Ramsey credits BINTF for
promoting treatment for addicts. "They do not usually look in the
yellow pages for treatment. They get treatment after being arrested," he said.

Commanders Keith Krampitz, Vic Lacey, and Chief Wardell of the
probation department joined Ramsey in speaking about BINTF's activities.

Wardell emphasized the importance of funding. He said a federal
Office of Emergency Services grant funded four officers assigned to
BINTF. Wardell thanked the City Councils of Paradise and Chico and
the Board of Supervisors for picking up the difference. "We need
ongoing funding to fight the meth scourge in this county. We need
funds to not only sustain, but to increase BINTF." Ramsey also
thanked the Department of Justice Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement for
supporting BINTF.

The number of weapons BINTF seized totaled 152, including 45
handguns, 56 rifles, 29 shotguns, and two illegal weapons. "This is
the dangerous aspect because the combination of meth and weapons is
deadly," Ramsey said.

In 2005, BINTF made 320 felony arrests and 114 arrests for
misdemeanors, for a total of 434 arrests. This number is down from
the previous year when 506 arrests were made.

In 2003 BINTF had 14 agents and in 2005 this number went down to 11.
" "BINTF depends on their personnel. We used to have the CHP, Parole
Special Enforcement Unit, Department of Corrections, and the Sheriff
Office's had an additional grant-funded position, but those positions
have gone away as of 2005. When bodies go down, the number of arrests
went down too," Ramsey said.

Of the 434 arrests, 68.7 percent were drug-related and the majority
were for meth, which accounted for 225 arrests. There were 28
arrested for marijuana, eight for cocaine, six for cocaine base, 23
for controlled prescription drugs, six for heroin, and two for MDMA (ecstasy).

"We've seen a rise in the use of heroin," Lacey said. Of the
drug-related arrests, 74 were major dealers, who were arrested for
manufacturing, dealing, and/or possession for sale of ounces to pound
quantities of controlled substances.

Ramsey said a more potent form of meth called "ice" is being produced
by Mexican nationals and cartels, who are also setting up "superlabs"
and smuggling ingredients like pseudoephedrine. "We appreciate stores
cracking down on pseudoephedrine sales," he said. Four year ago, a
law passed limiting purchases to three packages per customers. And, a
new federal law says pseudoephedrine is to be placed behind the
counter, he added.

The total street value of drug seizures for the year was $1,763,655 (see box).

Non-drug related arrests totaled 136 and included 32 warrant arrests,
23 parole violations, seven probation violations, 10 weapon
violations, among others.

Also, of the 434 arrests, 174 were in the unincorporated areas of the
county; 133 were in the city of Chico; and 47 were in Oroville. In
Gridley, BINTF made 23 arrests, 51 in Paradise, two in Biggs, and
four were out of county.

Commander Krampitz spoke of their Strategic Tactical Operations
Program, which conducts periodic sweeps that saturate a selected
area. "BINTF plans to continue major sweeps on a regular basis, gain
intelligence, and arrest probation and parole violators. We also work
in cooperation with the casinos to reduce crime," Krampitz said.

Training for BINTF agents is critical to keep up-to-date with drug
dealers methods of concealing assets, investigative procedures, and
handling and documenting evidence. During 2005, BINTF personnel
received 1,293 hours of training.

BINTF gave public presentations on drug abuse and recognition, meth
lab recognition, and the DEC program. These were also made to
schools, civic groups, medical community, fire personnel, and law
enforcement officers, the report said. Total number of people
attending these public presentations is 3,504.

The advisory council in 2005 was BINTF Chairman and Chico Chief of
Police Bruce Hagerty; two California Department of Justice special
agents; Paradise Chief of Police Gerald Carrigan; Chief Probation
Officer John Wardell, Oroville Chief of Police MItch Brown, Sheriff
Reniff, Police Chiefs from Gridley-Biggs, Jack Storne and Gary
Keeler, and D.A. Ramsey. A special thanks was mentioned in honor of
Tammy for her dedication as BINTF secretary.

Ramsey thanked the Gridley-Biggs department. "The level of support by
the Gridley-Biggs police is amazing," Ramsey said. "They are not a
large agency, but donate an officer or two to BINTF each and every
year. They are to be congratulated," he said.

For more information on the Task Force and meth, see: www.2stopmeth.org.