Pubdate: Mon, 06 Feb 2012
Source: Record Searchlight (Redding, CA)
Copyright: 2012 Record Searchlight
Contact:  http://www.redding.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/360

DRUG TASK FORCE SHIFT

Cal-MMET Moves to Single-County Efforts Amid Cuts

Two agents in black law enforcement SUVs patrolling north of Redding 
will continue to nab suspected drug runners on Interstate 5 in spite 
of a round of state budget cuts and restructuring, local officials say.

The changes forced the local counties that were part of 
multi-jurisdictional teams targeting drug runners across the state to 
become single-county task forces. But, aside from losing funding for 
one of three Shasta County sheriff's deputies assigned to the 
program, Capt. Jeff Foster says not much has changed.

"Instead of being in one building, we're now spread out in a bunch of 
little buildings," Foster said.

He said local drug agents will continue to work corroboratively with 
the other counties' task forces to try to hunt down those responsible 
for bringing drugs into the state. He said that's a necessity since 
the drivers whose cars local agents stop carrying thousands of 
dollars in cash and drugs aren't acting alone.

"You don't have $500,000 in a car heading up and down the state 
unless you're connected to somebody important," said Foster, who 
recently handed control of the local Cal-MMET program to another 
sheriff's commander.

Founded in 2002, the state's Multi-jurisdictional Methamphetamine 
Enforcement Team program was created to target drug runners cooking 
methamphetamine in California and transporting it throughout the state.

Over the years, the program shifted its focus to target the Mexican 
cartels making meth south of the border, where they moved after

state lawmakers put restrictions on selling the formerly 
over-the-counter cold medicines that were a key ingredient in meth, 
Foster said.

Regional Cal-MMET teams, of which Shasta had been a part, turned 
their focus on the cartels' drug runners, something Foster says 
remains unchanged after the state's restructuring last year.

Another Shasta County drug task force focused on local drug dealers 
instead of statewide traffickers similarly saw itself change in the 
way it was organized.

Last fall, the state Department of Justice began notifying local and 
federal law enforcement agencies that it was ending its involvement 
in two-thirds of California's 52 drug- and gang-fighting task forces 
this year because of budget cuts.

Counties like Shasta that had existing state and federal grants were 
left to run the program on their own after their state-funded 
commanders were laid off. The program is now administered by a 
Redding Police Department supervisor.

In spite of the changes at Cal-MMET, Foster said he expects the two 
local Cal-MMET agents to be just effective as they have been over the years.

Though specific seizures and busts are rarely publicized to protect 
investigations into federal cases spanning several states, the amount 
of drugs Shasta County's Cal-MMET agents seize is impressive, Foster said.

In 2010, the local team reported seizing $2.38 million in cash, 24 
pounds of opium, 83 pounds of meth and 37 pounds of cocaine.

Foster said 2011 seizure numbers weren't available Friday, but in 
January, agents found more than 20 pounds of meth in a drug runner's car.

Though the drug busts may be the primary focus, the county's two 
agents also do routine law enforcement work, including traffic stops 
and assisting with other investigations. Foster said they recently 
nabbed a murder suspect from Reno, Nev., on Interstate 5.

"There's a lot that they do that never hits the stat sheet," Foster said.
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