METH TASK FORCE RECEIVES GRANT, MOVES FORWARD

Thanks to a six-figure grant, regional law enforcement agencies have a new
weapon in their increasingly heated war on methamphetamine.

Watauga Sheriff Mark Shook outlined the Northwestern North Carolina
Methamphetamine Task Force at a press conference last week and announced the
new force's first arrests.

The task force is a cooperative effort between Watauga, Wilkes and Ashe
counties and joined Watauga County Sheriff Mark Shook speaks to local media
about the Northwestern North Carolina Methamphetamine Task Force Wednesday
as, from left, William Greene, Boone Police; and David Call, N.C. State
Bureau of Investigation look on. Photo by Marie Freeman, High Country Media

by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) and the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration. Other participating agencies include the
Watauga, Wilkes and Ashe District Attorney's offices, Boone Police
Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the U.S.
Attorney's Office.

The task force received a grant of up to $170,000 for establishing an
office, with future continuing grants possible. The three counties
contributed about $15,000 each as a local share.

The money will be used to hire a data analyst, and Shook said the position
was now being advertised. Watauga County has donated space for an office
that's not in a law enforcement center. That office will collect data and
have a toll free number so people can report suspicious activity that might
be related to illegal production of meth.

Shook said the involvement of the U.S. Attorney's office not only yields
tougher potential sentences against meth manufacturers, it also shifts the
prosecution and trial to federal court and relieves the burden on district
courts.

Shook called the task force a proactive step in the battle against
methamphetamine, which has become the region's largest crime problem. Shook
links meth use to many other categories of crime and said drug
investigations are taking a large portion of his department's resources.

Last year, Watauga County had 34 meth lab busts, equal to the entire
statewide total of 2001. Last year, Ashe County had six and Wilkes had three
busts, but both counties expect more activity in the future. Watauga County
had five busts in 2002.

Shook said methamphetamine manufacture had migrated east from California,
and said Tennessee is plagued with the problem. In addition to the adjacent
counties, Shook said there was also communitcation with law enforcement
officals across the state lines in Tennessee and Virginia.

Ashe County Sheriff Jim Hartley said meth "cookers" are becoming more
organized and sophisticated both in setting up the labs and in getting the
needed ingredients from retail stores.

Since many of the ingredients are legal by themselves, store owners are
asked to report suspicious purchases of a number of products that might be
linked to meth labs, particularly cold medicine containing pseudoephedrine.

"It's one of the worst drugs we've faced," Hartley said. He said meth
manufacturers were becoming a "real tight group" and a suspected teacher is
traveling the region showing others how to set up the illegal labs.

Hartley also praised the support of county commissioners in developing the
task force. Each county will have three deputies certified to investigate
clandestine labs, since the labs hold health hazards due to the toxic
chemicals involved. In the past, county departments had to call in the SBI
response team before they could raid a lab.

Capt. William Greene of the Boone Police Department said that although meth
labs were largely a rural phenomenon, the department was seeing more
precursor chemicals in town arrests. No labs have been found at Appalachian
State University. "It's a great asset to be a part of this task force and be
able to pool resources," Greene said.

SBI agent David Call said the western district was seeing the greatest
impact and said while the General Assembly was giving more support for drug
investigations. He said "We certainly could use additional manpower."

"It's a northwestern North Carolina problem right now, but we're seeing more
cases in the Piedmont and on the coast," Call said. "We are trying to
educate other law enforcement personnel across the state about this problem
and let them know it's coming. We have to adapt to crime problems as it
comes out."

Shook said under federal sentencing guidelines, defendants would be facing
between 10 and 15 years. It also provides tougher penalties if firearms are
found with the lab or are used in connection with illegal distribution.
Shook said while other drugs are still around, meth has stolen the spotlight
in the last couple of years.

"We still have marijuana and coke (cocaine), but meth is causing the most
problems," he said.

The state Attorney General's office issued a report in May that said
methamphetamine threatens to overwhelm the state's law enforcement, social
services, public health facilities and courtrooms.

The report recommends more public education on the dangers of meth labs and
specialized training for those professions that might find evidence of meth
labs. It also recommended tougher sentences for methamphetamine manufacture,
particularly if a child is found in the home and if emergency responders or
law enforcement officers are injured in a meth lab case. A bill to toughen
meth sentences is currently with a N.C. Senate judiciary committee.