News
Release
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
June 16, 2006
Contact: DOJ Public Affairs
(202) 514-2007
FACT
SHEET:
The Department of Justice's Efforts to Combat Methamphetamine
JUN
16--President George W. Bush has directed his Administration
to take aggressive and collaborative action in addressing the dangerous
proliferation of methamphetamine. Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales
has directed the Department of Justice to make this effort a top
priority. The Department’s goals in this endeavor are to communicate,
cooperate and coordinate with our international, state and local
law enforcement partners to tackle every aspect of this deadly threat
to our nation.
Since taking office,
the Attorney General has focused on combating methamphetamine through
six methods:
1) Increasing
DEA Operations and Arrests
The Justice Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration have been fighting
methamphetamine for over 20 years. The Department has engaged in sustained
efforts to target an unprecedented rise in the use, trafficking and manufacture
of methamphetamine nationwide and to make advances on the national and international
front to combat this unique drug.
-
In the 2005
fiscal year, DEA made 5,870 methamphetamine arrests and seized
2,491 kilograms of the drug.
-
In August 2005,
DEA also concluded Operation Three Hour Tour that targeted high-level
Colombian and Mexican drug traffickers in the U.S. The Operation
dismantled three major transportation cells and 27 distribution
groups and seized 155 pounds of methamphetamine.
2) Making
Meth Prosecutions a Priority for U.S. Attorneys
The Attorney General has directed the United States Attorney’s Offices
to make the prosecution of meth cooks and distributors, especially those who
are repeat offenders, a high priority. This means U.S. Attorneys are now going
into federal court and seeking stiff sentences for major players in the meth
trade.
- During the past
10 years, our U.S. Attorneys have more than quadrupled the number
of meth cases filed and defendants charged.
3) Working
with State and Local Law Enforcement
The scourge of methamphetamine demands strong partnerships and innovative solutions
to fight the devastation it leaves behind. The Department is committed to working
with our state and local law enforcement partners to ensure that our streets
and neighborhoods are safe and that the methamphetamine problem is brought
to an end.
-
DEA commits
more than $145 million per year to combating meth, through operations,
meth lab dismantling and removal and regulatory control of precursor
chemicals.
-
The Department
has provided additional specialized training to police officers
and sheriff’s deputies on how to best respond to meth related
situations.
-
The Department
has expanded the Clandestine Lab Container Program so that it is
available nationwide.
-
Toxic waste
from meth labs is transported by trained law enforcement personnel
to centralized approved containers and is then picked up and
removed by DEA contractors.
-
The container
program has significantly reduced burdensome costs for state
and local law enforcement budgets, specifically the cost of
lab cleanup, law enforcement overtime and hazardous-material
removal.
4) Providing
Information and Awareness
Community involvement among neighbors, parents, community leaders, schools
and businesses is also an essential component in the fight against methamphetamine.
It is extremely important to educate young people about the irreversible harm
to the body and damage to the quality of life this drug leaves in its wake.
-
The Department
supports the National Drug Endangered Children Program, which assists
states and communities by expanding the effectiveness of outreach
efforts to protect children orphaned by the arrest and incarceration
of parents involved in meth.
-
DEA has launched http://www.justthinktwice.com -
a cutting-edge Web site devoted to and designed by teenagers that
includes the hard facts about methamphetamine with graphic photos
and personal stories.
5) Strengthing
International Partnerships to Combat Methamphetamine
Joined by Mexican Attorney General Daniel Cabeza De Vaca, Office of National
Drug Control Policy Director John Walters and DEA Administrator Karen Tandy,
last month the Attorney General unveiled Department of Justice-led initiatives
aimed at addressing improved enforcement, increased law enforcement training,
improved information-sharing, and increased public awareness both domestically
and with joint U.S./Mexico anti-trafficking efforts.
The DEA and the
Government of Mexico will establish specialized methamphetamine enforcement
teams on the respective sides of the border. In Mexico, these teams
will focus on investigating and targeting the most wanted Mexican methamphetamine
drug trafficking organizations, while DEA-led efforts on the U.S. side
will focus on the methamphetamine traffickers and organizations transporting
and distributing methamphetamine.
Other initiatives
that are part of the U.S./Mexico partnership include:
-
A new DEA and
Customs and Border Protection Service focus on ports of interest
within the United States targeting suspicious cargo that is likely
to be related to methamphetamine trafficking organizations;
-
A Binational
Law Enforcement Working Group that will focus on methamphetamine
production and trafficking from both an enforcement and intelligence
perspective;
-
The DEA and
the Mexican counterparts will further share intelligence information
and continue to develop stronger working relationships. Such collaborative
efforts will focus on investigating large-scale meth trafficking
organizations that are operating in Mexico and the United States;
-
An agreement
between the DEA Office of Diversion Control and Mexico’s
chemical regulatory agency, COFEPRIS, to a personnel exchange in
which chemical regulatory experts from within each agency will
be embedded within the other’s agency for a specific period
to observe, learn best practices, and then implement joint strategies
complimentary to both regulatory agencies;
-
A bilateral
leadership planning conference this summer in Mexico aimed at reducing
methamphetamine production and demand, and improving targeting
efforts;
-
Six DEA trucks
used in clandestine lab enforcement operations that have been refurbished
and donated to Mexico to be used by the above referenced specialized
Mexican enforcement teams; and
-
New DEA, State
Department and other government agency-led training for nearly
1000 Mexican police officials in a variety of locations throughout
the U.S., Mexico, and Central America on a variety of investigative,
enforcement and regulatory methods related to methamphetamine trafficking.
-
U.S.
Efforts
Domestic efforts
will focus on a redirection of DEA Clan Lab enforcement teams. The
significant reduction in domestic small toxic labs will allow these
teams to refocus their efforts at targeting Mexican methamphetamine
trafficking organizations by tracing chemicals, finished methamphetamine
and proceeds to organizational leaders in the U.S. and Mexico rather
than merely locating and cleaning up labs. An additional focus of these
teams will be to identify and dismantle U.S.-based transportation and
distribution cells.
Other domestic initiatives
announced include:
-
A national
listing on the DEA Web site of the addresses of properties in which
methamphetamine labs or chemical dumpsites have been found. The
registry will provide owners or renters with notice that a property
may once have been used to produce methamphetamine and that there
may be potential toxic hazards within the property.
-
The groundbreaking
for a new clandestine lab training facility at the DEA Academy
in Quantico, Va. will be in the fall of 2006. At this facility,
DEA will train US and foreign law enforcement officials on the
latest techniques in clandestine lab detection, enforcement, and
safety in a state-of-the-art facility.
6) Using
Additional Tools to Targeting Meth Traffickers
The “Combat Methamphetamine Act” contained in the USA PATRIOT Act
reauthorization legislation makes certain drugs used in manufacturing methamphetamines “scheduled
listed chemical products” harder to obtain in unlimited quantities and
easier for law enforcement to track. It provides a national standard for the
regulation of meth precursors and makes other important contributions to the
war against drugs. As part of a more comprehensive approach toward controlling
this growing problem, the legislation:
-
Imposes limits
on daily retail and monthly mail order/Internet sales, requires
behind-the-counter placement or display and storage in locked cabinets;
-
Requires that
regulated sellers such as retail distributors and pharmacies maintain
a written logbook of purchases and that buyers present photo ID
and sign the log;
-
Requires each
regulated seller to submit a certification to the DEA;
-
Provides increased
penalties for smuggling and selling meth;
-
Provides that
kingpins of “Continuing Criminal Enterprises” will
be subject to life imprisonment for a reduced threshold amount
of meth and profits from meth; and
-
Provides that
offenders who manufacture meth at a location where a child resides
or is present could be eligible for a consecutive sentence of up
to 20 additional years of imprisonment.
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