AUTHORITIES BUST MAJOR METH RING IN SNOHOMISH COUNTY

More than 120 federal and local law-enforcement officers yesterday
broke up a major methamphetamine ring, an action they hope will limit
the drug's availability in Snohomish County.

Members of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of
Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Snohomish Regional Drug
Task Force arrested 16 people late Thursday and early yesterday in
King, Snohomish and Skagit counties, along with one person in
California, during "Operation Bomb Bomb."

Each person arrested was charged in U.S. District Court in Seattle
with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. The majority of the
arrests were in the Everett area, police said, and most of those
arrested are believed to be illegal immigrants.

Almost 7 pounds of 99 percent pure methamphetamine - also called "ice"
or "glass" - was confiscated, along with an estimated $180,000 in cash
and 30 firearms. Police said the methamphetamine has a street value of
$900 an ounce, or more than $100,000 for the amount found.

Snohomish County authorities began investigating the alleged drug ring
almost a year ago based on an informant's tip. About three months ago,
local officials were contacted by DEA agents who suspected some of the
alleged dealers were part of a much larger ring operating outside
Snohomish County.

U.S. Department of Justice officials think the methamphetamine was
coming from California or from across the Mexican border.

Among those charged yesterday was Jose Guadalupe Roman-Santana, 24, of
Everett, the alleged leader of the drug ring. Investigators used a
number of techniques to collect information, including wiretaps on the
suspects' phones, said Emily Langlie, a spokeswoman for the U.S.
Attorney's Office in Seattle.

Agents dubbed the operation "bomb bomb" because alleged members of the
drug ring were overheard stating the methamphetamine was "so pure it
was the bomb bomb."

Local officers said they've rarely seen methamphetamine this pure.
"The average Joe Cook is making meth in the mid-80 percentile," said
Sgt. John Flood, a member of the Snohomish drug force. "This is the
best we've found. This is high quality."

A grand jury indicted 21 people Thursday, and officers say more
arrests are expected. Eleven entered not-guilty pleas in federal court
yesterday. All arrested are being held in federal detention in
Seattle, Langlie said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Doug Whalley said the arrests could cut the
methamphetamine supply to Snohomish County, where it's believed much
of the drug was being distributed. A similar raid two years ago in
Kitsap County, which resulted in 25 convictions, made a major dent in
the methamphetamine supply there, he said.

"Because of the meth problem in Snohomish County, we hope it does the
same there," he said.

Methamphetamine production continues to plague the county. The
Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force and the Snohomish Health District
have investigated more than 100 methamphetamine laboratories during
the past two years. The number does not include the nearly 50 sites
where toxic drug-making chemicals have been dumped.