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WYDEN, SMITH SECURE $600,000
TO FIGHT METH
IN MARION COUNTY
Funds will help purchase new methamphetamine
lab surveillance vehicles
January 22, 2004
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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