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Apr 12, 2008 6:24 pm US/Mountain
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Number Of Meth Labs In Colorado Is On The Decline
DENVER (CBS4) ―
The drug methamphetamine continues to be present and a problem in Colorado, but the amount being produced locally is dropping.
According to the DEA, there were 44 meth lab busts on the local, state and federal level in Colorado last year. In 2003 there were 345 of those types of busts.
The Drug Enforcement Administration says there are several factors at play with the decrease. Word may be getting out about how bad meth is. DEA efforts to halt the spread of the drug may also be working better.
The DEA says the good news comes thanks in part to businesses, pharmacies and an alert public. By pulling the key ingredients used to make meth off shelves at some stores it has also made the process criminals use to make meth harder.
Jeffrey Sweetin, Special Agent in Charge of the Denver Field Division, oversees DEA operations in four states including Colorado. He says decreasing the number of labs locally is a major step in the right direction.
"There were hundreds of labs seized in each of my four states every year. Now we do 2 or 3 in a state per year. So that's a great success story."
Despite the good news, Sweetin says that as long as there is a demand for the drug there will always be someone to supply it, meaning the battle for drug enforcement agents is far from over.
Federal agents say as much as 20 percent of the meth found in the country was made here. The rest typically comes from Mexico, and the meth out of Mexico is getting more potent and more dangerous.
"There's still a demand. There's still a demand for meth so the Mexican drug traffickers have filled that demand," Sweetin said.
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