Total of drug seizures for year tells officials there's more work to do

Carson City deputies made 298 drug arrests and took more than four pounds of marijuana and nearly a pound of methamphetamine off the streets in 2005, according Sheriff's Department numbers released Thursday.

Thirteen people were arrested for driving under the influence of drugs, 94 were charged with possessing drugs, 90 were charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, 90 were charged with possession of marijuana and 11 were arrested for trafficking.

During the same time period, the Tri-Net Drug Task Force, which works drug trafficking investigations in Carson City, Lyon, Storey and Douglas counties, made 112 arrests that netted more than 13 pounds of methamphetamine and more than eight pounds of marijuana.

The street value of the drugs seized by both organizations was more than $634,000.

"What this means is we are getting only a very small fraction of the methamphetamine moving through Carson City," said Special Enforcement Team Detective Bill Abbott.

The drug numbers were given during a briefing Wednesday to the law enforcement portion of Carson City's Meth Coalition.

Sheriff Kenny Furlong said the information is vital to determining how best to combat the growing epidemic of methamphetamine use in the area. Numbers for the same time period in 2004 were not complied by the sheriff's department.

"These numbers tell us we need to patrol high-drug-traffic areas more frequently and to increase training of deputies in the areas of drug identification and recognition," he said. "Ultimately we hope to rid the community. That's a huge goal and many would say it's not attainable, but it is the only direction to have. Anything less than that is hypocritical."

-- Contact reporter F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.