Wyden, Smith Secure $600,000 to Fight Meth in Marion Country
Funds will help purchase new methamphetamine lab surveillance vehicles
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) today announced that the Marion County's Methamphetamine Lab Surveillance and Seizure Program will receive $600,000 in federal funds. The funds will purchase surveillance vehicles to help the Sheriff's Office crack down on methamphetamine crime rings, and are included in the omnibus spending measure that will now be signed into law by the president. "Every Oregonian has a stake in the war against drugs, and these new resources will give Marion County law enforcement additional tools they need to take down the meth makers and to safeguard our communities and children," Wyden said. "Meth trafficking has become a more visible problem in the past few years, but the horrors that are associated with this terrible drug are nothing new to countless Oregonians in Marion County," said Smith. "Funding the fight against this devastating trade is a priority that can't be overstated." The methamphetamine surveillance vehicles will help Marion County law enforcement investigate and dismantle clandestine methamphetamine producing laboratories. In 2002, the Marion County Sheriff's Office seized 51 methamphetamine labs; nearly as many labs were shut down in 2000 and 2001 combined. Senators Wyden and Smith successfully urged the National Office of Drug Control Policy to designate Clackamas, Deschutes, Douglas, Jackson, Marion, Multnomah, and Washington Counties as a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) in 1999.
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