FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2001????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

OJP?? 202/307-0703

OCPA contact:? Sheila Jerusalem,? 202/616-3227

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT AWARDS MISSOURI? $2.5? MILLION

TO COMBAT METHAMPHETAMINE OPERATIONS

WASHINGTON, D.C. ? The Justice Department is awarding nearly $2.5 million to support the Missouri Sheriffs? Methamphetamine Relief Team (MOSMART) Project.?? The project offers assistance to sheriffs and rural drug task forces in their fight against clandestine methamphetamine laboratories.? This award brings the total amount of Justice Department funding to MOSMART to $5,642,975 since FY 2000.? These funds are administered by the

Office of Justice Program?s (OJP), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA).

?One of the most challenging aspects of America?s illegal drug problem is the production of new types and forms of illegal substances.? The Justice Department working with state and local law enforcement agencies is committed to stopping the production and distribution of drugs in our communities,? said OJP?s Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Tracy A. Henke.

One of the goals of the MOSMART project is to improve Missouri?s? reporting of clandestine laboratory seizures to the El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC).? ?EPIC, established in 1974 as a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) led center, has expanded beyond its original mission of addressing drug movement and immigration violations and now also maintains the National Clandestine Laboratory Seizure Database.?? EPIC is a major national clearinghouse for criminal drug intelligence.??

MOSMART funds may be used for personnel, training, equipment and prevention initiatives.? Any officer funded by MOSMART is required to attend? DEA?s clandestine laboratory certification school or possess a current lab certification.

?Illegal drugs pose a serious threat to our citizens and are destroying the lives of many

American children.? This initiative assists Missouri?s law enforcement agencies to respond to and prevent illegal drug production and trafficking,? said Henke.

?For information about the MOSMART? Project contact Sheriff John Jordan, Cape Girardeau?s County Sheriff at 573/243-3551.?? Information about OJP bureaus and program offices is available at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/.? Media should contact OJP?s Office of Congressional and Public Affairs at 202/307-0703.