COPS CONDUCT 2-DAY METH SWEEP

Effort Nets Arrests And 25 Weapons In North Metro Area

Federal, state and local authorities conducted a "meth sweep" this week
that was the first of its kind in the north metro area.

"We were trying to determine how the meth scourge that's across the nation
has affected this community," said Lori Moriarty, commander of the North
Metro Drug Task Force.

Using information from residents and police across the northern suburbs,
seven teams made 101 methamphetamine-related contacts in less than 48 hours.

The sweep involved 39 officers and agents from various north metro police
and sheriff's departments, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Adams
County Department of Social Services and the Colorado Department of
Corrections Parole Office.

While local officials have worked with the DEA on individual stings in the
past, this was the first time the agencies collaborated in such a
comprehensive sweep of north metro neighborhoods, Moriarty said.

Starting at 10 a.m. Monday and ending about 7 p.m. Tuesday, authorities
raided 20 suspected meth laboratories.

They found evidence of a lab at only one of the addresses.

Lee Michael Arnett, 35, was sent to jail Monday evening after a team
searched his home at 19 Evergreen St. in Broomfield.

DEA Special Agent Karen Flowers said the team found ingredients and
equipment capable of producing about 1,000 grams of crystal meth.

Authorities arrested Arnett on suspicion of manufacturing methamphetamine
and possessing chemicals, glassware and equipment for the manufacture of
the drug.

The sweep also resulted in two misdemeanor arrests and five summonses
related mostly to the possession of drug paraphernalia. A total of 25
weapons, including a sawed-off shotgun and a crossbow, were collected.

Eleven children between the ages of 3 and 16 were living in close proximity
to meth.

Meth lab busts have declined in the north metro area. There were 34 labs
broken up last year, compared with 99 in 2002. Tuesday's bust in Broomfield
was the area's 24th this year.

Moriarty said better enforcement and stiffer penalties have driven local
meth manufacturers farther underground.

She said 80 percent of the area's meth is now imported from super
laboratories in Mexico.

Last week, DEA agents arrested Mexican nationals Juan Pedro Mendez, 31, and
Samuel Sarmiento- Gonzalez, 36, after the men allegedly tried to sell six
pounds of high-quality methamphetamine, worth $54,000, in a Denver grocery
store parking lot.