KANSAS CITY, KAN. – Working closely with local law enforcement, the Kansas Attorney General’s Office continued taking meth manufacturers off the street at a steady pace during 2013, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt announced today.
Last year, the Kansas Attorney General’s office prosecuted 29 people for meth crimes that resulted in sentences of five or more years in prison, Schmidt said. Most drug prosecutions are handled locally, but the attorney general’s office assists local authorities in major cases or when otherwise requested.
“A vital key to addressing the meth problem is getting those who manufacture and distribute the drug off the streets,” Schmidt said. “The attorney general’s office will continue to assist local authorities in this critically important effort.”
Schmidt said the 2013 methamphetamine convictions included 17 state cases and 12 federal court convictions. The Kansas Attorney General’s Office can assist local and federal prosecutors with certain serious drug crime prosecutions.
To help combat the manufacture and trafficking of meth and other illegal drugs, two special task forces have been established in the southern regions of the state.
Local, state and federal law enforcement agencies work with prosecutors in the region to put drug traffickers and dealers behind bars. Schmidt has assigned prosecutors from his office to assist with meth cases generated by these regional task forces.
