METH BUSTS RISE

The number of area meth dealers and manufacturers arrested this year
has risen from past years, according to local law enforcement, which
may be an indication that the amount of meth in the area has also increased.

In Fergus Falls, there have been 31 major drug busts made in 2004,
already equal to the amount of busts made by the end of last year.

"I would suspect that we'll be at 35 to 40 by the end of the year,"
said Fergus Falls police sergeant Kile Bergren, the department's
primary narcotics investigator.

Before 2002, Bergren said there was an average of five to 10 busts a
year in Fergus Falls, but that changed when the department stepped up
its efforts to fight meth.

"The more effort we put into it, the more arrests we'll make," Bergren
said.

But the added arrests might also translate into a higher activity of
drugs, he said.

"I can't say we'll see a decrease in the next 10 years," he
said.

The sheriff's department has made nine major busts this year of meth
dealers and manufacturers in Otter Tail County. Sheriff Brian
Schlueter said he didn't have numbers to compare to last year, but
said the arrests have risen.

What's also troubling, he said, is that the number of spin-off crimes
relating to meth, such as theft, burglary and assault, have also
increased, as well as the number of babies born addicted to meth.

Another problem law enforcement has encountered is that the number of
weapons recovered in drug searches has also been increasing, making
the drug officers' jobs more dangerous.

Bergren said that the dealers and makers have also gotten smarter
about protecting themselves from law enforcement, with some even
equipping their homes and labs with surveillance systems. It's part of
why the police and sheriff's departments have increased the number of
officers working full time on drugs: from zero to three in the past
two years. The officers also work closely with the West Central
Minnesota Drug Initiative Task Force, which has six agents to monitor
drug activity in eight counties.

But as to whether the increased enforcement will deter meth crimes,
Bergren and Schlueter say they aren't sure.

"You're dealing with people that have addictions," Bergren said, "and
as long as they have the addictions, they will continue to do whatever
they can to feed them."

Added Schlueter: "I don't think you can ever win [the
battle], but you still have to go out and fight it,
because the consequences if you don't would be
devastating."

Bergren and Schlueter also said they would like to see tougher prison
sentences for people convicted of dealing and making the drug.

Bergren said, those more serious crimes often get lumped in with drug
users, who are typically sentenced to treatment.

"Too often we focus on the perpetrators and rehabilitating them rather
than protecting the community," he said.