DRUG TASK FORCE NEEDS MONEY, PROSECUTOR TELLS SMITHVILLE

Group has four officers but needs eight, says Dan White.

"The drug squad does their job so well, so quietly, you don't know
they're out there." Dan White, Clay County prosecutor

Just because you don't see drugs being pedaled, doesn't mean they don't exist.

Clay County prosecutor Dan White gave some raw numbers on drugs
during a Tuesday presentation at the Smithville Board of Aldermen meeting.

In 2005, the Clay County Drug Task Force seized 171 pounds of
marijuana with a street value of $171,000. Marijuana, White said, is
the most popular drug in the county.

If only marijuana was the sole drug in Clay County. Methamphetamine,
crack cocaine, khat and prescription pills are also drugs of choice.

Compounding the problem of finding illicit drugs, is funding. Federal
funding to the drug task force could decrease.

Smithville police chief Ken Wilson is also president of the county's
drug task force. He said he hopes municipalities in Clay County will
increase the amount of money they give to combat illicit drugs. The
task force has four undercover officers on loan from various
jurisdictions, but soon that number could drop to three when North
Kansas City recalls its officer.

"The only way to fight these drugs is money," Wilson said. "You have
only so many detectives assigned. You need equipment, which costs
money, and training and personnel."

White added that Clay County is understaffed.

"We need eight (officers)," White said. "That's the reality. We're
winning some battles but we need support.

"The drug squad does their job so well, so quietly, you don't know
they're out there."

White gave a slide presentation, which he said demonstrates that drug
abuse is not a victimless crime. Exhibit one was a Mosby home that
had been trashed. Used toilet paper was stacked up against a
blackened toilet. The dining table was cluttered with garbage and
investigators apparently found two separate mice nests. One nest had
nearly-naked newborn mice. The second nest had critters that were
somewhat older.

"This was so bad, the goldfish couldn't take it," said White as he
displayed a picture two floating goldfish in a bowl.

Despite the filth, the Mosby couple raised five children in the home,
ranging from 9 to 10 months old, White said.

White said that methamphetamine is a growing presence in Clay County.
Last year, the drug task force seized 894.77 grams of
methamphetamine. Each gram is valued at $100.

White showed pictures of a meth house that had caught on fire. In one
slide, White pointed out a burn pattern on the kitchen wall. He also
showed where the wall had not been burned.

What was protecting that section of the wall? A person standing in
the way, White said.

Meth is generally made in mobile or remote home laboratories. A sure
sign that something fishy is going on is when a resident blacks out
their windows with tin foil, White said.

Behind methamphetamine, crack cocaine ranks third in the county as
the most popular drug. In 2005, 121.65 grams were confiscated,
totaling $12,000.

Other drugs in Clay County are ecstasy, an upper; khat, a natual
stimulant grown in east Africa; magic mushroom that often grow under cow pies.

White estimates that the task force puts about a 10 percent dent in
the county's drug scene.