Program creates meth crackdown

Federal, state and county law enforcement officials gathered in Osceola this morning to mark the start of a two million dollar federal program.The federal money will be used to coordinate efforts to track down and clean up illegal meth labs in south central Iowa. Nearly half of the meth labs discovered in Iowa last year were found in the 17-county south-central region that stretches from Ames down to the Missouri border, across to Bloomfield and up to Newton. The “Clandestine Methamphetamine Lab Task Force” will have a base in Osceola. Democrat Senator Tom Harkin and the two republicans President Bush appointed as U-S Attorneys for Iowa’s northern and southern districts were on hand for this morning’s announcement, as were sheriffs and police from the 17-county area.