TASK FORCE IN TEXAS TO TARGET METH LABS IN OKLAHOMA

A federal drug task force in Texas will begin targeting methamphetamine
labs in Oklahoma. Sequoyah County, one of those included in the sweep, is
in District Attorney Dianne Barker-Harrold's jurisdiction. She welcomes the
news that the High-Intensity Drug Traffic Area grant includes Sequoyah
County. "We have been trying for years to get this," she said. "We are very
pleased." Barker-Harrold said the project combines local, state and federal
authorities and allows the formation of task forces.

She said Sequoyah County ranks second only to Oklahoma County in the number
of methamphetamine labs. The HIDTA is generally for major geographical
areas, and the fact that Sequoyah County has been chosen shows the area's
methamphetamine problem is being recognized. Barker-Harrold said Sequoyah
County is an attractive area for methamphetamine labs for several reasons.
"It's remote, and methamphetamine has become easier to cook," she said.
"It's easy to find a heat source, and it's easier to hide in the middle of
nowhere.' Despite the county's remote location, it features major highways
handy for those who are selling and transporting methamphetamine.
Barker-Harrold said U.S. Highways 59 and 69 are close as is Interstate 40.

"We miss a lot of the traffic because we don't have the manpower," she said.

The North Texas HIDTA task force, one of 33 multiagency groups across the
country working to dismantle major drug organizations, has won the approval
to form three new squads from a number of Oklahoma law enforcement
agencies. One squad will work to disrupt drug trade, another will target
Oklahoma's clandestine labs. A third task force, based in Oklahoma City,
will spend much of its time gathering intelligence about Mexican
drug-trafficking gangs operating in Oklahoma. The three groups will target
five other counties besides Sequoyah: Oklahoma, Tulsa, Muskogee, Comanche
and Cleveland. Last year, those counties accounted for most of the 1,200
labs confiscated by state authorities. The Office of National Drug Control
Policy, which oversees the nation's 33 HIDTA task force offices, approved
the rare expansion in September with an initial $250,000 grant.

The three new squads should be deployed by Christmas. Malcom Atwood,
director of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Narcotics, praised the extra
government help to combat a problem that seems to be spiraling beyond his
agency's control.

"Those are probably the counties in which most of the drug activity in
Oklahoma has been taking place," he said. "With the federal resources,
we'll be able to focus in on those problems."

Law enforcement officials had a hard time getting approval for the task
force expansion because counter terrorism has been such a priority, but
officials said the inability of thinly stretched local police to stem a
major rise of a national methamphetamine trade made a powerful argument for
the expansion.

"There just aren't a lot of resources up there," said Dallas DEA Special
Agent in Charge Sherri Strange, who campaigned for the expansion in her
office's jurisdiction. "Oklahoma is a very rural place, and a lot of their
resources are spread out."

A HIDTA "threat assessment" study this year in rural Oklahoma cites a surge
in substance-abuse treatment numbers that places Oklahoma 42 percent higher
than the national average for stimulant abuse. The study also says Oklahoma
is a major national hub for the smuggling and distribution of illegal
"precursor" chemicals used in the home production of methamphetamine.

"There appears to be no slowdown in either clandestine methamphetamine lab
activity or Oklahoma's role as a major source for precursor chemicals," the
report said. "With 35 registered wholesalers and three manufacturers of
pseudoephedrine, Oklahoma-based chemicals have been found in all
surrounding states and as far as California and Nevada."
Pseudoepedrine is a decongestant commonly used in over-the-counter cold
medicines.

It also is a main ingredient in the production of illegal methamphetamine.
Taking advantage of Oklahoma's many highways, Mexican drug traffickers have
set up operations near Oklahoma City and Tulsa, creating tightly knit gangs
that traffic in large quantities of cocaine, marijuana and heroin, federal
officials said. Large amounts of drugs are being shipped on Interstates 35,
40 and 44 to other major cities, particularly Chicago, Kansas City and New
York. Money from the drug transactions is then shipped back to Mexico by
similar routes, the threat assessment report said.