Texas task force to target Oklahoma meth labs

<br>DALLAS (AP) _ A federal drug task force in Texas will begin targeting methamphetamine labs in Oklahoma. <br><br>The North Texas High Intensity Drug Area task force, one of 33 multiagency groups across

Monday, November 18th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

DALLAS (AP) _ A federal drug task force in Texas will begin targeting methamphetamine labs in Oklahoma.

The North Texas High Intensity Drug Area task force, one of 33 multiagency groups across the country working to dismantle major drug organizations, has won the approval to form three new squads from a number of Oklahoma law enforcement agencies.

One squad will work to disrupt drug trade, another will target Oklahoma's clandestine labs. A third task force, based in Oklahoma City, will spend much of its time gathering intelligence about Mexican drug-trafficking gangs operating in Oklahoma.

The three groups will target six counties _ Oklahoma, Tulsa, Muskogee, Sequoyah, Comanche and Cleveland.

Last year, those counties accounted for most of the 1,200 labs confiscated by state authorities.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy, which oversees the nation's 33 HIDTA task force offices, approved the rare expansion in September with an initial $250,000 grant. The three new squads should be deployed by Christmas.

Malcom Atwood, director of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Narcotics, said he welcomes the extra government help to combat a problem that seems to be spiraling beyond his agency's control.

``Those are probably the counties in which most of the drug activity in Oklahoma has been taking place,'' he said. ``With the federal resources, we'll be able to focus in on those problems.''

Law enforcement officials had a hard time getting approval for the task force expansion because counter terrorism has been such a priority, but officials said the inability of thinly stretched local police to stem a major rise of a national methamphetamine trade made a powerful argument for the expansion.

``There just aren't a lot of resources up there,'' said Dallas DEA Special Agent in Charge Sherri Strange, who campaigned for the expansion in her office's jurisdiction. ``Oklahoma is a very rural place, and a lot of their resources are spread out.''

A HIDTA ``threat assessment'' study this year in rural Oklahoma cites a surge in substance-abuse treatment numbers that places Oklahoma 42 percent higher than the national average for stimulant abuse.

The study also says Oklahoma is a major national hub for the smuggling and distribution of illegal ``precursor'' chemicals used in the home production of methamphetamine.

``There appears to be no slowdown in either clandestine methamphetamine lab activity or Oklahoma's role as a major source for precursor chemicals,'' the report said. ``With 35 registered wholesalers and three manufacturers of pseudoephedrine, Oklahoma-based chemicals have been found in all surrounding states and as far as California and Nevada.''

Pseudoepedrine is a decongestant commonly used in over-the-counter cold medicines. It also is a main ingredient in the production of illegal methamphetamine.

Taking advantage of Oklahoma's many highways, Mexican drug traffickers have set up operations near Oklahoma City and Tulsa, creating tightly knit gangs that traffic in large quantities of cocaine, marijuana and heroin, federal officials said.

Large amounts of drugs are being shipped on Interstates 35, 40 and 44 to other major cities, particularly Chicago, Kansas City and New York.

Money from the drug transactions is then shipped back to Mexico by similar routes, the threat assessment report said.