COUNTY AGREES TO BUY DRUG INCINERATOR

EL PASO -- County commissioners voted 5-0 on Monday to purchase an
incinerator to dispose of illegal narcotics confiscated by the El
Paso County Sheriff's Office.

Sheriff's Cmdr. Gomecindo Lopez said the incinerator will eliminate
the expense of contracting for illegal drug disposal services. The
$136,000 incinerator will be financed through the sheriff's asset
forfeiture fund.

"It's actually the dopers' money," Lopez said. "We're going to save
the taxpayers a lot of money."

County Commissioner Anna Perez said the incinerator will allow
detectives to stay focused on crime and provide the Sheriff's Office
with greater efficiency.

"We'll be able to use detectives to do criminal work instead of
babysitting all these tons and tons of drugs," she said.

Typically, the Sheriff's Office contracts with an Arizona firm at a
rate of $1,625 per ton. With an average of 40,000 pounds of drugs
confiscated each year, the sheriff's office is looking to save about
$32,500 annually. At times, the county contracted with Asarco to
dispose of narcotics when the plant's smelter was operational, Lopez said.

The incinerator also will end a sometimes-used sheriff's practice of
burning narcotics in desert land away from populated areas, which
Lopez said is cumbersome, costly and increasingly difficult as the
Environmental Protection Agency standards become more stringent.

"With the volume of narcotics that needs to be burned, it then
becomes a security issue," Lopez said.

The Sheriff's Office intends to make the incinerator, which is
expected to be operational by the end of the year, available for
other local law enforcement agencies.