News (Media Awareness Project) - US AL: Editorial: Etowah Authorities Break Up Far-Reaching |
| Title: | US AL: Editorial: Etowah Authorities Break Up Far-Reaching |
| Published On: | 2006-02-20 |
| Source: | Gadsden Times, The (AL) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-01-14 15:53:05 |
ETOWAH AUTHORITIES BREAK UP FAR-REACHING DRUG OPERATION
Officers trying to combat crystal methamphetamine in northeast
Alabama may not be busting up amateur labs in back rooms or the
trunks of cars so often now, but they have plenty to do to try to
stem the flow of the drug from elsewhere.
After a four-month investigation dubbed Operation Crystal Ice, the
Etowah County Drug Enforcement Unit arrested 10 people for alleged
involvement in the transporting of more than 100 pounds of crystal
methamphetamine from Mexico and distributing it in Etowah County.
Etowah Sheriff James Hayes said eight of the 10 people arrested were
in the country illegally. DEU Commander Rob Savage said a large part
of the operation involved getting the true identities of the people involved.
The numbers involved in the case are frightening. While authorities
seized 2.5 pounds of crystal meth, more than $12,000, five vehicles
and more than 10 false identity papers, Hayes said during the past 18
months, the drug ring brought in more than 100 pounds of crystal ice,
a pure form of methamphetamine, and distributed it locally.
According to Savage, crystal ice has a wholesale value of $12,000 per
pound and a street value of $30,000 to $35,000. That means the amount
of methamphetamine moved through Etowah County and surrounding
counties during the last 18 months had a wholesale value of $1.2
million and a street value of between $2 and $3 million.
If successful, trafficking methamphetamine obviously can be a
lucrative business.
But the aftermath of meth addiction is anything but lucrative. It
destroys an addict's health, leads to other crimes and, all to often
ends, with children removed from meth-using or trafficking parents
and placed in foster care, putting further strain on an already
strained system.
If there is a happy ending to a story of more than 100 pounds of such
a destructive drug being sold in and around Etowah County, it is that
these suspects have been apprehended. There may be 100 pounds of
crystal methamphetamine sold and used in Etowah and surrounding
counties in the next 18 months, but drug dealers will have to
establish a new network to do it.
Officers trying to combat crystal methamphetamine in northeast
Alabama may not be busting up amateur labs in back rooms or the
trunks of cars so often now, but they have plenty to do to try to
stem the flow of the drug from elsewhere.
After a four-month investigation dubbed Operation Crystal Ice, the
Etowah County Drug Enforcement Unit arrested 10 people for alleged
involvement in the transporting of more than 100 pounds of crystal
methamphetamine from Mexico and distributing it in Etowah County.
Etowah Sheriff James Hayes said eight of the 10 people arrested were
in the country illegally. DEU Commander Rob Savage said a large part
of the operation involved getting the true identities of the people involved.
The numbers involved in the case are frightening. While authorities
seized 2.5 pounds of crystal meth, more than $12,000, five vehicles
and more than 10 false identity papers, Hayes said during the past 18
months, the drug ring brought in more than 100 pounds of crystal ice,
a pure form of methamphetamine, and distributed it locally.
According to Savage, crystal ice has a wholesale value of $12,000 per
pound and a street value of $30,000 to $35,000. That means the amount
of methamphetamine moved through Etowah County and surrounding
counties during the last 18 months had a wholesale value of $1.2
million and a street value of between $2 and $3 million.
If successful, trafficking methamphetamine obviously can be a
lucrative business.
But the aftermath of meth addiction is anything but lucrative. It
destroys an addict's health, leads to other crimes and, all to often
ends, with children removed from meth-using or trafficking parents
and placed in foster care, putting further strain on an already
strained system.
If there is a happy ending to a story of more than 100 pounds of such
a destructive drug being sold in and around Etowah County, it is that
these suspects have been apprehended. There may be 100 pounds of
crystal methamphetamine sold and used in Etowah and surrounding
counties in the next 18 months, but drug dealers will have to
establish a new network to do it.
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