NIXON ANNOUNCES STRIKE FORCE

Missouri law enforcement has two new weapons in the war on methamphetamine.

Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon announced Friday new legislation that will allow cooperative drug investigative and arrest powers between bordering counties in Missouri and Illinois.

The new legislation, which becomes effective Aug. 29, means the war on meth "knows no borders," Nixon said.

Nixon also announced formation of a new Methamphetamine Prosecution Strike Force to assist local prosecutors with meth cases.

Nixon met with law enforcement representatives from Cape Girardeau, Scott and Perry counties in Missouri and the Southern Illinois counties of Randolph, Jackson, Union and Alexander. Sheriffs' representatives signed the cooperative agreements at the meeting at the old St. Vincent's Seminary in Cape Girardeau.

Perry County signed agreements with Randolph and Jackson counties in Illinois. Cape Girardeau County now has agreements with Union and Alexander counties, and Scott County has an agreement with Alexander County.

"Law enforcement is making significant progress in the war against meth," Nixon said. "We have tougher laws and stronger penalties and now we have the ability to stand united in this fight, regardless of county or state jurisdiction. These new cooperative agreements provide law enforcement with increased authority to stop those attempting to flee from justice in Missouri counties."

Nixon said it is important police be able to cross state and county lines to pursue methamphetamine dealers because of the mobile nature of meth labs.

"It's unlike other drugs that require a longer chain to come into this country" such as heroin or cocaine," he said. "You're dealing with a product that can literally be made in the back of a pickup truck or somebody's kitchen."

Meth dealers will no longer be able to cross state lines to avoid the law, Nixon said.

"For anybody out there thinking about messing with us, we are 100 percent united in this effort," he said.

Scott County Sheriff Bill Ferrell said the cross-state agreements mean police won't have to work out jurisdictional agreements while trying to carry out investigations.

"We can already have a cooperative agreement and be able to do our jobs and put these people in jail," Ferrell said. "We don't want them to have an advantage because there's a county line between us or a state line."

For every meth lab that is broken up by police, he said, "there's probably 100 that nobody knows about."

The cooperative agreements law will allow sheriff's departments in Missouri's 45 border counties to set up agreements with contiguous counties in bordering states, Nixon said.

He said the state hopes have to have agreements in place with all of Missouri's neighboring states in the next month to six weeks.

As of the end of May, 229 methamphetamine labs had been busted around Missouri, Nixon said.

The large number of arrests means local prosecutors have been asking the state for assistance in prosecuting meth cases, Nixon said.

Tim Anderson, a state prosecutor, will head up the new strike force. Kevin Zoellner, a former Cape Girardeau County assistant prosecutor, will also serve on the task force, along with Richard Hicks.

Anderson said Missouri law enforcement has signed agreements with counties in Illinois, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Kansas.

Federal law enforcement already handles drug cases that cross state lines, Anderson said, but an additional level of enforcement is needed.

Missouri ranks second in the country for methamphetamine production, behind California.

"In Missouri so far, the primary problem has been out west in the Kansas City area and the Springfield area," he said.

But methamphetamine production is moving east across the state.

Anderson said he isn't sure why Missouri is such "a huge state" for meth production.

"I don't think anybody really knows," he said.

Biker gangs moved production into the state, he said.