Pubdate: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 Source: Weekly Vista (AR) Copyright: 2003, The Weekly Vista Contact: http://www.nwanews.com/weeklyvista/index.php Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3086 Author: Robert Sheldon Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/methact.htm (Methamphetamine Anti-Proliferation Act) DRUG PLAGUE EVEN STRIKING BELLA VISTA VILLAGE Despite the recent creation of a drug task force in the Benton County Sheriff's Department, the drug problem in the county is getting worse, Sheriff's Department Captain Tom Brewster said Oct. 14. Brewster addressed the drug problem in Benton County and northwest Arkansas during a talk at the Senior Protection Academy in the Sheriff's Department headquarters. The academy is one of a series of periodic seminars held by S.A.L.T. (Seniors and Law Enforcement Together), a group of citizens selected on the basis of leadership abilities from communities throughout the county. Not only is Benton County plagued by locally manufactured methamphetamines, it appears that the county is also beginning to see some amount of methamphetamines coming into the area from the Mexican cartel, through California and other western states, Brewster said. Lt. Ken Farmer of the Bella Vista Division of the Benton County Sheriff's Department also noted an increase in drugs and drug-related crimes in Bella Vista. The number of drug-related arrests in the village more than doubled in the first nine months of the year compared to all of 2002. "So far, we've had 21 arrests for drug-related crimes, compared to nine last year," he said. "We're finding that many of the criminal offenses we're encountering are committed by people using methamphetamines." Brewster said the Benton County Sheriff's Department is working hard to have Arkansas join HIDRA, (High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area), which pulls together state, local and federal law enforcement agencies in an effort to stop drug trafficking on a regional basis. Arkansas has been asked by the state of Louisiana to join it in seeking a HIDRA designation, which Brewster said requires a $500,000 "buy in" on the part of the participating state members but opens the door to obtaining federal funds for education, manpower and equipment. "Arkansas is a main route for drug trafficking both north and south from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada along Interstate 540, and east to west from California to the east coast along Interstate 40," Brewster said. In the Benton County Jail, 80-85 percent of the prisoners are there because of offenses involving drugs. Bella Vista is also seeing its share of drug trafficking. "One of the biggest marijuana operations we've ever uncovered was in Bella Vista," he said, adding that methamphetamines are also frequently manufactured and used in Bella Vista homes. "Last weekend, we arrested the driver of a semitrailer at the truck stop near the Missouri border in Bella Vista. He was rolling around in a mud puddle as the result of using methamphetamines," he said. "Think about having a truck driver at the wheel of an 18-wheeler going down the highway in that condition." Methamphetamines are easy to make and all the materials needed are available at Wal-Mart for less than $400, he said. With that investment, a meth maker can make $1,200 worth of the drug. People who have never used the drug can be affected by its use and manufacture. "Making the stuff contaminates every surface in the house," Brewster said. "It's a danger even to the people who are making the drug." People who move into a former meth house get sick, and sometimes die, he said. "We put up signs in the meth houses we find, but we have no way of knowing if the signs stay up, and we don't know if a renter or buyer is notified of the danger. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek