Pubdate: Mon, 28 Jun 2004 Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA) Copyright: 2004 Richmond Newspapers Inc. Contact: http://www.timesdispatch.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/365 Author: Calvin R. Trice Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) DRUG SEIZURE TOTALS VARY But Meth Problem In Valley Appears To Be Moving East The RUSH Drug Task Force, which works Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, seized more than 10,000 grams (22 pounds) of methamphetamine last year. The Northwest Region Drug Task Force to the north of Rockingham seized about 1,400 grams (about three pounds). An interstate trafficking ring broken up in Rockingham County in the late 1990s foreshadowed meth's spread south into Augusta County and Staunton, where it took hold around 2000, police say. Now, it is the third most frequent drug investigated in Staunton - after cocaine and marijuana - and accounts for about 75 percent of drug cases in Augusta County, investigators there estimate. By comparison, the Blue Ridge Task Force for the Orange and Culpeper counties area across the mountain to the east seized none, task force statistics show. However, the Shenandoah Valley's meth problem is moving east. Last September, the Jefferson Area Drug Enforcement task force seized 537 grams in western Albemarle County. Most of the methamphetamine valley officials see originates in the southwestern United States or Mexico, the authorities say. Those who bring it to the region generally are members of outlaw motorcycle gangs or Mexican immigrants who find it easy to hide within the valley's growing Hispanic population, authorities say. They believe gang members moved more than 9,000 grams of the drug during a two-year investigation, said Shenandoah County Sheriff Tim Carter. Through April of this year, the Northwest task force had seized more than 3,600 grams of meth - at or near the level of RUSH to the south, according to task force statistics. RUSH officials say meth is worth as much as $15,000 per pound uncut and as much as $45,000 per pound when sold by the gram. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin