Oklahoma DEA: 'Meth Is Quietly Coming Back'

For the first time in decades, the person running the Oklahoma office of the Drug Enforcement Administration, is an Oklahoman.

Assistant Special Agent in Charge John Scott just got the job a month ago after being stationed in Miami, Florida, Mexico, Guatemala, and most recently at the El Paso Intelligence Center.

Scott said he is very excited to be back in Oklahoma with the DEA and he said while there are several drug issues in Oklahoma. The biggest issue is the states meth problem. 

Scott said we may have gotten rid of the meth labs, but drug traffickers in Mexico used that opportunity to flood our state with meth that's more pure and cheaper than it used to be.

"While there's a lot of talk about the opioid epidemic, meth is quietly coming back and flooding the U.S. at a pace we've never seen before," Scott said. 

The DEA covers all 77 counties with agents in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and McAlester, which means they're stretched pretty thin. He said they couldn't do it without state and city partners like Tulsa Police, Broken Arrow police, O-H-P, the Bureau of Narcotics, and many more.

"We rely heavily on those partnerships," Scott said.

Scott and his wife were both born in Oklahoma and during his 16 years on the job he's always wanted to make his way back here. He said it's unique here because most of the agents are also homegrown.

"It means more. We want to do as much as we can to make our communities safer, for our kids, our cousins and aunts and uncles," Scott said.

Scott said the citizens of Oklahoma can rest a little bit easier because the DEA is tracking all the biggest drug traffickers in the state.