http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdee ... 343528.htm

Posted on Fri, Apr. 14, 2006

Officials size up meth problem in South Dakota
Associated Press

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Fewer methamphetamine labs are being busted in South Dakota but more people are being arrested for possessing the addictive drug, law enforcement officials said Thursday in Sioux Falls during a discussion of the meth problem.

Authorities told Sen. John Thune that state laws restricting the sale of meth ingredients might have played a part in the fewer number of labs in South Dakota.

Now, according to officials, meth is coming in with Mexican immigrants and then distributed from cities such as Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles.

And they say American Indian reservations have become transit points.

"The organized drug cartels are looking at the Indian Reservations because they're in remote areas," Thune said.

There just isn't enough law enforcement on the reservations, Thune said. The senator said he thinks the Bureau of Indian Affairs could play a greater role. "This is a very big problem, and I think it's going to take a very coordinated effort."

Flandreau Police Chief Ken James said it's a tragic situation. He said most of the meth in his town comes from Sioux Falls and from Sioux City, Iowa, he said.

"It's kind of like picking up dandelions out of your yard," James said of meth users in his town. "You pick one and you've got two or three others popping up somewhere else."

A federal Drug Enforcement Administration agent, Richard Mulholland, said much of the meth coming to Sioux Falls is supplied through Sioux City. The western half of the state gets its meth from Denver, Utah and West Coast states, he said.

Mulholland spent time in El Paso, Texas, where "there's more drugs than you can believe coming in," he said.

A stricter immigration law would help the country's meth problem, Thune said.

Meth addicts often take great risks to get the drug, said Doug Barthel, Sioux Falls police chief.

"There is no question our other crimes are directly impacted by the number of meth users," he said.

It is getting more difficult to track people with meth because fewer people are making it in their homes, James said.