Huge Decline In Meth Labs

Keeping with national trends, the Larimer County Drug Task Force encountered far fewer methamphetamine labs last year than it had in previous years, pointing to a decrease in availability of the highly addictive drug.

Last year, the 19-officer, multi-agency task force dismantled seven meth labs, down from 19 the previous year and 20 in 2003, according to statistics from the agency.

"Everyone has identified (meth) as a problem and everyone is dealing with it," said Lt. Craig Dodd, who heads the task force. "We're having success in reducing the availability of meth in our community."

Nationwide, the number of busted meth labs has drastically declined since 2003, according to numbers from the U.S. Department of Justice's National Drug Intelligence Center, dropping from 10,212 to 2,159 through the first nine months of 2006.

The local one-year decline could be attributed to an investigation that took up much of the task force's time. That investigation eventually broke up a regional meth distribution ring, Dodd said. More than 70 people were implicated in that ring, he said.

"But when you do that, you're actually going to have more of an impact on the safety of the community," he said.

Similarly, the District Attorney's Office for the 8th Judicial District, which covers Larimer and Jackson counties, saw a sharp decline in the number of felony drug charges filed last year, dropping from 1,060 to 705.

"You can't say that's a trend," District Attorney Larry Abrahamson said. "You can't attribute any specific significance to a one-year drop."

What is more significant, Abrahamson said, is the continuing increase in charges filed for fraud and property crimes.

"Those are pretty indicative of drug usage," he said.

A decrease in the number of meth labs does not mean meth is no longer available in the region, Dodd said. The drug is now transported from Mexico, he said.