THIS WEEK'S NEWSMAKER: MIKE HAND

On Drug Enforcement In Jackson County

Q. As the new head of the Jackson County Drug Task Force, will you take the
agency in any new directions to combat drugs?

A. We're going to try to become more aggressive and more active in
combating drugs..We may do sweeps, we may do checks of motel parking lots
for load vehicles (cars carrying narcotics), things like that. We'll come
up with ideas, other departments will come up with ideas, and our task
force members will come up with ideas.

Q. According to the Jackson County Drug Task Force's 2003 annual report,
the street value of seized cocaine and crack exceeded methamphetamine by a
margin of 2 to 1. Shouldn't more attention be brought to cocaine?

A. Attention is brought to cocaine, but in my opinion, meth is a more
serious problem due to the damage it does to a person and families and due
to the manufacturing process.

When a person uses meth, that becomes their whole focus. They're highly
stimulated. They may go on binges where they start doing odd behaviors, odd
things. They'll start taking things apart. They disregard their family life
and personal life, and their whole focus becomes methamphetamine.

We have drug-endangered children that are in these homes where these people
are making meth, using meth.

Q. Tell me what Mexican meth is.

A. It's methamphetamine that's manufactured in Mexico and brought up here
by various sources. Usually, it's by car, and it's brought in by ports of
entry in California and other southwest border states, (like) Texas.

You run into various purities on Mexican meth. Sometimes it's going to be
more pure than the home-manufactured things we find here.

Q. Is there a bigger market for Mexican meth?

A. Meth is meth to the users. They usually don't differentiate. The seller
may try to boost it by saying "This is better" or "My cook just made this
and it's great" or "This was just brought in." They (the sellers) use
different tactics, but as long as the meth user is getting meth, he's happy
with it.

Q. The 2003 Jackson County Drug Task Force report states, ".the ready
availability of methamphetamine has increased." Are drug dealers making
more meth? Do they have better shipping and distribution routes?

A. Last year the government reported that there were about 2,800 meth
incidents in the state of Missouri. Sixty-two of those were accredited to
Jackson County. What we run into is a lot of small hotel room or
bathroom-type meth labs.

They (the sellers) may be better at hiding it.Books have been written about
the ways they hide methamphetamine-in gas tanks, in various cut-outs in
vehicles.There might be a void somewhere in the vehicle...They may have
special compartments installed by somebody where they're the only ones who
can get to it. They'll hide it just about anywhere they can.

Q. Is law enforcement strained due to budget or manpower?

A. We're always looking for more funding. It takes time to do these cases.
It takes manpower, it takes money. Surveillance takes time and overtime.

Q. Are there any up-and-coming drugs penetrating Kansas City?

A. We're trying to stem the tide of meth right now. It's taking up a lot of
time, but we address all the other drugs, too, when they come to our
attention. We take a proactive stance with that.

Q. You don't see any new waves of drugs?

A. Not yet.

- -Linda Man/The Star

. Mike Hand became officer in charge of the Jackson County Drug Task Force
in January 2004.

. He was the executive director of the Missouri Police Officers Association
from 2001 to January 2004

. He spent 30 years with the Kansas City Police Department, retiring in
2000 as a deputy chief.

. The Task Force is a covert drug enforcement agency formed in 1986. It
combats drug problems primarily in southern and eastern Jackson County. Its
agents represent 14 local law enforcement agencies.