GRANT TO HELP MISS. CREATE METH TASK FORCE

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) - Law enforcement officers are using a $250,000 federal
grant to create a task force that aims to curtail the trafficking and
manufacture of methamphetamine in north Mississippi.

"(Methamphetamine) is growing more and more every day, and eventually it
will overcome marijuana and cocaine as the primary drug of choice if we
can't get a handle on it," said James Hawkins, who is overseeing creation
of the task force.

From 1999-2001, state law enforcement agencies reported finding 373
methamphetamine labs, according to statistics from the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration.

The North Mississippi Methamphetamine Enforcement Team, which will be based
in Oxford, will focus its efforts in the 36 counties that make up the
state's northern judicial district.

The task force will have six federal drug agents, four state narcotics
agents, two state troopers, a Panola County deputy and three police
officers from Oxford, Southaven and Tupelo who will work full time, said
Hawkins, who also oversees Mississippi's High Intensity Drug Trafficking
Area task force.