35 INDICTED ON METH CHARGES

The largest organized crime case in Kerr County in several years goes
to the courts with 26 defendants arrested by 8 a.m. Tuesday and nine
more being sought.

During the yearlong investigation, five clandestine meth labs were
seized and numerous burglaries, thefts and forgeries solved, Sheriff
Rusty Hierholzer said. Two sawed-off shotguns and several handguns
also were seized

Hierholzer said Tuesday that all 35 defendants are Kerr County
residents, and those still being sought are believed to have left the
area once word of the roundup spread. None of the suspects in the
sealed indictments can been identified until the 216th Judicial
District Court authorizes it, he said. However, he did reveal that
many of the defendants are either related or are friends.

The investigation, headed by up Kerr County Sheriff's Office Chief
Investigator Carol Twiss and Investigator James Ledford, was presented
to the 216th Grand Jury on Friday. Thirty-five felony indictments were
issued for organized crime for conspiring to manufacture
methamphetamine, Hierholzer said. The grand jury also issued 16
indictments for possession of methamphetamine and delivery of
methamphetamine.

Hierholzer praised the cooperation of the agencies that aided in the
investigation and roundup.

"It was fabulous teamwork," he said. "Every agency in the county was
involved."

In addition to the sheriff's office, Kerrville Police Department,
Ingram Marshal's Office, the 216th Judicial District Narcotics Task
Force, Texas Department of Public Safety and other area agencies
participated.

"Methamphetamine possession and manufacturing has become a very
serious problem across our state and the nation," Hierholzer said. "We
have taken a zero-tolerance attitude concerning this problem in Kerr
County."

The seized labs were in different areas of the county, he said, with
the most recent on May 21 at a house on Crest Ridge Drive, a
middle-class neighborhood on Kerrville's west side. Information on the
goings-on filtered through to the investigators from neighbors,
including a police officer who lived in the area.

One resident, who didn't want to be identified, said Tuesday that a
raid on the house occurred about 5 a.m. He said the renters, who have
since moved, were a couple with young children.

"You knew they weren't the most desirable of renters, but we never
thought it was anything like that," he said. "The thing that was most
aggravating to me was the people that it brought to our street. It
made me want to shut the garage door a little tighter."

Hierholzer said the drug trade is being battled aggressively in Kerr
County.

"Speaking for our agency and the law enforcement community, we will
not tolerate this activity ... and will aggressively continue to work
to eliminate this blight," he said.

Recent legislation passed in Texas could make methamphetamine
production more difficult by making it harder to acquire the chemical
ingredients. House Bill 164 requires wholesalers of ephedrine or
pseudoephedrine products to keep business records of sales and to
report suspicious requests of large quantities of the products to the
Department of Health and Human Services.

In a statement, Hierholzer said he encourages business who sell
ingredients that can be converted to manufacture methamphetamine to
put the items -- such as Red Devil dye, Liquid Plumber, iodine, and
cold and allergy tablets -- behind the counter or notify law
enforcement agencies of people purchasing the products in quantities
that could be used to manufacture the drug.