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A dubious honor ... Feds label county `high-intensity drug trafficking area' By PAUL FATTIG and JIM DAVIS Methamphetamine arrests in Jackson County grew from scores to hundreds in just the past six years. The amount of meth seized by police rose from less than a couple hundred grams earlier this decade to a peak of more than 8,000 grams in 1997. And, in the past two years, 21 meth labs were seized -- compared with 18 during the rest of the 1990s. Federal officials named Jackson and two other Oregon counties on Tuesday as "high-intensity drug trafficking area." "It's a wonderful first step toward statewide designation," said U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith. "It means the federal government joins state and local officials on front lines." Jackson, Marion and Deschutes counties will receive a total of $600,000 to coordinate federal, state and local law enforcement responses to drug trafficking. Smith has said that Oregon has become a major conduit for drug traffic up and down Interstate 5. It also has become a place where manufacturers and growers produce marijuana, methamphetamine and hallucinogenics for distribution to states as far away as Hawaii, North Carolina and Florida, he said. He also has said crackdowns in populated areas have sent the drug trade into rural communities, where it's harder to detect. Sgt. Jim Anderson, who heads the Jackson County Narcotic Enforcement Team, said he believes the county does have a problem with drug trafficking. "The freeway is a known source for money and drugs coming into the region," Anderson said. "I think Medford is a hub for some of the drugs coming into this area and being distributed outward." Anderson said methamphetamine has grown in the past several years to become the biggest problem -- and the main focus of law enforcement efforts. The federal designation provides money to increase federal prosecution of drug offenders in Jackson and Deschutes counties and will support a drug intelligence center in Marion County. The center will be a statewide facility. Anderson did not know why Jackson County was selected for the designation. And federal prosecutors could not be reached to explain why the county was chosen or how much of the money would be directed here. Smith, a Republican, and Democrat Ron Wyden had pushed for the designation. They also have requested funding for a statewide designation and funding in fiscal year 2000. The $600,000 is seen as a stopgap figure, Smith said. "It's a start," he said. "What we've said is that $6.5 million is needed to make an effective statewide net to catch all the trafficking." However, the $600,000 is more than the senators assumed they would get this year, he said. Smith anticipates more people will be mustered to fight drug trafficking in Oregon. The funding has also been supported by 2nd District Congressman Greg Walden, R-Hood River. Federal support of local and statewide efforts to stop drug trafficking is needed to reduce the number of drug-related deaths, he said, noting that drug-related deaths statewide have jumped from 39 in 1991 to 221 in 1997. "The additional funds and resources made available by this new designation will further strengthen some innovative programs already in place," Walden said, using JACNET as an example. Other high-intensity states: California, Hawaii, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont and Ohio. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA