FIRST-CLASS OPERATION

Effectiveness of area task force causes meth makers to flee to other parts
of W.Va.

Up until recently, the problem with methamphetamines had been largely one
faced in Wood County. However, in recent months more of meth labs began
popping up in many other areas of the state, leaving law enforcement
agencies to wonder why something that had been largely confined here was
spreading.

Then these officers realized the answer: The Parkersburg Violent Crimes and
Narcotics Task Force. This special unit made up of officers from various law
enforcement agencies in Wood County - The Wood County Sheriff's Office, the
Parkersburg Police Department and the Vienna Police Department - has become
so aggressive and so successful in fighting meth labs, many of these people
were going elsewhere. "The meth problem is growing in the state, but
Parkersburg has put a cap on it," Southern District U.S. Attorney Kasey
Warner said recently. Warner, was one of the speakers at last week's
conference on the growing meth problem in West Virginia.

This conference was held at the West Virginia State Police headquarters in
Charleston and attended by law enforcement agencies from all over the state.

The spread of meth labs to other parts of the state cannot be blamed solely
on the aggressiveness of the Parkersburg task force enforcement here. Meth
is a growing problem in other areas of the state and the nation for two
reasons - because it is cheap to make from easily obtained materials and
because it offers a huge potential profit for the people behind the
operations.

However, Parkersburg law enforcement officers were the first ones to see the
problem and begin aggressive efforts to combat it.

"(The task force is) a first-class task force," Warner said. "I sometimes
think the Parkersburg area doesn't know how good they are. I can't say
enough about them."

We here in the Mid-Ohio Valley do know how good these officers are at their
jobs. We have been living with this problem for several years and know how
worse it would be without the task force. In spite of the task force's work,
the problem hasn't been eliminated. Of the 100 labs busted in West Virginia
last year, 56 were busted by the Parkersburg task force, although the
problem seemed to lessen during the latter part of 2002.

"As far as I'm concerned, we're one of the best ones in the state," Wood
County Sheriff Steve Greiner said. "Our unit has done a tremendous job.
They've stayed on top of it."

Yes it has. And the unit has now become the blueprint for other task forces
formed to fight this problem, both in West Virginia and around the country.

Quick action has made potential meth lab operators think twice about
beginning an operation. The same quick action could be successful in making
this problem less severe in the state.