OFFICERS RECEIVE TRAINING TO CLEAN UP METH LABS

Last week, 45 law officers from East Tennessee, North Georgia and Alabama
completed training that taught them how to secure and dismantle the highly
toxic methamphetamine labs they encounter in the region.

The training at the Hamilton County Sheriff's Annex was paid for through
the Southeast Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force, which has been in
existence for three years and covers 18 counties. Task force funding
allowed the training to be held locally instead of in Quantico, Va., said
Ben Scott, resident agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration
office in Chattanooga.

With the 45 officers who graduated, there are about 80 officers in the area
certified to process the seizure and dismantling of meth labs, Agent Scott
said. The officers attended a weeklong training session in which they
received clothes, equipment and instruments to safely enter and dismantle a
lab.

"The labs are everywhere, so the more people we have certified, the quicker
the response," Agent Scott said.

He said law enforcement agencies that do not have a certified officer to
dismantle a meth lab have to contact other agencies and wait for them to
send personnel.

U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., who helped secure the federal grant for the
task force and was at Friday's graduation ceremony, called methamphetamine
"a cancer from within."

"This methamphetamine threat is a major threat that destroys lives and
breaks apart families," he said.

Officials said they are making strides in the fight against
methamphetamine, but the battle isn't won yet.

"The local law enforcement people see promise because of the efforts," said
Russ Dedrick, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of
Tennessee. "We think there's been a significant drop. It might be a little
too early to say for sure."

The meth task force started out as a collaboration of local law enforcement
agencies seeking to share resources in the battle against meth, Mr. Dedrick
said. A $1 million annual grant was secured, and officials have applied for
money for next year to continue the task force.

"The heart and the key is the spirit of the state, local and federal
agencies working together," Mr. Dedrick said.

Officials said the number of lab seizures has declined, but meth
manufacturing is still a major problem in the area, especially in rural
counties. Agent Scott said labs still are being located daily.

"It's one of those things that's ingrained in a lot of communities, and
it's easy to make," he said. "You put one or two in jail, and their buddies
pick up where they left off."

There were 400 labs in Tennessee taken down in the last year, 75 percent of
which were dismantled by the task force, Mr. Dedrick said. More than 200
federal indictments related to methamphetamine were filed in Eastern
Tennessee in the last fiscal year.

Officials also are turning to the public to educate them on the warning
signs that someone is using meth or may be purchasing large quantities of
materials to make the drug.

"People normally scared to share information are coming forward," said
Meigs County Sheriff Walter Hickman, who had the first officer in his
department certified in last week's training.