BY EMELINE COKELET
The number of reported methamphetamine labs in the state decreased for the first time last year since 1995, but Clallam County is seeing a different trend.
Since the county’s first lab was reported to the state Department of Ecology in 1994, the number of reported drug labs has remained fairly steady until it jumped from two in 2001 to 10 in 2002.
“We were a little behind the curve in the years prior to that in meth labs,” Fred DeFrang, Clallam County undersheriff and head of the Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team, said.
Figures released by Ecology last week show 1,693 sites reported statewide last year — an 11 percent decrease from 2001 when 1,891 sites were found.
Before the 10 labs were reported in Clallam County last year, the county’s highest number of labs located in a year was three.
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