GROUND GAINED ON METH EPIDEMIC

In 2003, there were some major advances in the fight against the
methamphetamine epidemic, which has gripped Kitsap County and many other
areas of the West for the last decade.

Five years of effort by federal, state and local authorities broke up the
Munoz-Munoz organization, believed responsible for half the local meth
supply. Twenty-six people involved with the Mexico-based drug trafficking
family were convicted and sentenced to federal prison, and the street price
of the drug zoomed, a positive indicator of success.

Busts of local meth-producing labs fell by about a third, the first
decrease in years.

Other positive signs include plans by the Kitsap County Drug Interdiction
Task Force to launch a countywide education effort in 2004, cooperative
efforts by three local health providers to treat urgent drug problems at
the new Crisis Triage Center and the promise of more drug treatment money
from the state.

But the dire social impacts of meth abuse remain.

In May, a man walking his dog discovered the body of meth addict and dealer
Robert Wadding crammed into a discarded chest of drawers, a grim reminder
of the brutal nature of the illicit drug underworld.

Three people have been convicted for their roles in the murder-robbery and
the chief suspect is believed to have fled the country.