cannabisnews.com: New Task Force To Fight Meth Production 





New Task Force To Fight Meth Production 
Posted by FoM on January 13, 2000 at 19:45:59 PT
By Louis Galvan
Source: Fresno Bee
Law enforcement officials now have a new tool honed for their battle against the production and trafficking of methamphetamine in the Central Valley. The Fresno Methamphetamine Task Force is intended to target major players responsible for producing and distributing methamphetamine, authorities said Wednesday. The group will work with two other similar task forces in the nine-county Central Valley. 
About 90% of the nation's methamphetamine is being produced in the Central Valley, law enforcement officials said. The newly created group was unveiled Wednesday by Fresno County Sheriff Richard Pierce, flanked by about a dozen other local, state and federal law enforcement officials. "We'll have an instant tie-in to anything that that is uncovered in any part of the Central Valley and other parts of the state," said Pat Lunney, a deputy director with the state Attorney General's Office. "One of the major problems facing law enforcement for years is that these people are very mobile." The Valleywide task force will be armed with special surveillance equipment, computers and better anti-drug intelligence, Lunney said. An $800,000 federal grant funds the task force. The federal government awarded the grant after the Central Valley was designated as a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area last June by the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. The area covers nine counties from Sacramento to Kern and has been divided into three regions, each with its own federally sponsored task force. Sacramento, San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties make up the northern region; Merced, Madera and Fresno, the central region; and Kings, Tulare and Kern, the southern region. Pierce said the money will be used to cover overtime and purchase special equipment. The task force consists of 14 full-time and seven part-time members from from various law enforcement agencies. Published: January 13, 2000Copyright ©1999, The Fresno Bee Related Articles:House To Take Up Anti-Meth Bill - Drug Policy Foundation http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread4202.shtmlMeth Use Expected to Skyrocket in Indianahttp://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread4172.shtmlAmendment To 'Meth Bill' Would Censor Information - 8/13/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread2476.shtmlReefer Madness Hits Congress - 8/08/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread2395.shtml 
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