Pubdate: Wed, 19 Apr 2000 Source: Topeka Capital-Journal (KS) Copyright: 2000 The Topeka Capital-Journal Contact: 616 S.E. Jefferson, Topeka, Kansas 66607 Website: http://cjonline.com/ Author: Associated Press POLICE CHIEF SAYS SALINA 'IS AWASH IN METH' SALINA (AP) -- Law enforcement officers say they are seeing disturbing evidence that methamphetamine use is growing rapidly in Salina. The I-135-I-70 Drug Task Force paid $12,000 for a 1-pound brick of meth last weekend in a string of drug arrests. That price is not a good sign for Salinans, said Salina Police Chief Jim Hill. "You know the community is awash in meth when you see it that cheap," Hill said. The $12,000 the task force's confidential informant paid for the drug represents its wholesale value, police said. The street value was estimated at $45,000, said police Lt. Joe Garman. A year ago that pound would have cost more than $15,000, Garman said. Prices are low because the drug trade in Salina is a buyer's market. "The market is flooded," Garman said. "There's so much dope being brought into town that it's like a gas war. To attract customers, you have to give them a better price than the competition." The meth seized last weekend came from Mexico, Garman said. In 1999, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration estimated that groups in Mexico and California controlled 80 percent to 90 percent of meth production and distribution in the United States. In recent years, meth labs have sprung up all over the Midwest. Nine labs have been discovered in Saline County in the first three months of this year. The 1 pound of meth was purchased during the weekend at three separate homes. Five people were arrested. On Monday, the drug task force arrested four more people at a body and stereo shop. Garman said one of the suspects had an "owe sheet" at the body shop that listed more than $44,000 people owed him for drug transactions. Included on the sheet were some of the names of those arrested. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D