News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 16, 2005

48-Hour Dragnet Yields Meth Lab, 22 Arrests and 25 Guns

AUG 23--DENVER – Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Denver Field Division Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Jeffrey D. Sweetin, North Metro Drug Task Force Lieutenant Lori Moriarty and Broomfield Police Chief C. Deland announced that 22 felony arrests, one meth lab and 25 firearms were seized as a result of a two-day intense focus on meth tips made by Denver citizens. On Monday, August 15, 2005, DEA Agents working in conjunction with the North Metro Drug Task Force contacted over 100 homes in the north Denver suburbs in which alleged meth activity was occurring.

SAC Jeffrey D. Sweetin stated, “The collaborative effort on Monday and Tuesday by 10 law enforcement agencies, the North Metro Fire Department and Adams County Social Services, signals a new and innovative approach to fighting the meth trade. Methamphetamine is a poison that corrupts our society and endangers our children, but we have shown that when law enforcement, emergency services, and social services band together with concerned citizens, we can have an instant and positive impact.”

Thirty-nine officers and agents, split into seven teams, were involved in the sweep. In less than forty-eight hours, the teams visited twenty suspected methamphetamine labs and made 101 methamphetamine related contacts. A methamphetamine lab was seized in Broomfield and 22 felony arrests were made and five tickets were issued, mostly for possession drug paraphernalia. The teams seized methamphetamine, marijuana, cocaine, hashish, mushrooms, 25 weapons and chemicals and glassware used to manufacture methamphetamine.

According to Chief Thomas C. Deland, “The issues surrounding meth labs and meth users are something that impacts all of us due to the number of crimes that meth users commit to supply their habit. “As a result, all residents along, with their police agencies, must remain vigilant in eradicating this dangerous drug from their communities.”

Monday and Tuesdays enforcement actions were the result of a joint team effort conducted by members of the Drug Enforcement Administration, North Metro Drug Task Force, Colorado Department of Corrections and Adams County Department of Social Services. The police and sheriff agencies involved were the Adams County Sheriffs Office, Brighton Police Department, Broomfield Police Department, Commerce City Police Department, Federal Heights Police Department, Northglenn Police Department, Thornton Police Department and the Westminster Police Department.

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