Crackdown on meth nets 21 in Las Vegas

Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2005 | 8:24 a.m.

A law enforcement crackdown on methamphetamine makers and distributors, dubbed Operation Wildfire, netted 21 arrests in Las Vegas, authorities announced on Tuesday.

Local law enforcement officials with the Drug Enforcement Administration seized four secret meth laboratories, 20,000 grams of meth, $51,626 in assets, an assault rifle and two semiautomatic pistols during August, said Daniel G. Bogden, U.S. attorney in Nevada.

"Operation Wildfire represents a continued effort in the Reno and Las Vegas areas to target those who participate in methamphetamine production and distribution," Bogden said.

It was the largest nationally coordinated law enforcement effort to target all levels of meth manufacturing and distribution in the United States, he said.

At the same time officials arrested nine people in Reno and seized another four clandestine meth labs, 3,050 grams of meth, $510 in assets and four semiautomatic pistols, Bogden said.

Agencies involved in Operation Wildfire in Las Vegas and Reno included the Drug Enforcement Administration, Metro Police, Henderson Police, Nevada Highway Patrol, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Reno Police, Sparks Police and Washoe County Sheriff's Office.

Operations were carried out nationwide in over 200 U.S. cities, resulting in a total of 427 people arrested, Bogden said.