Submitted by Fox First at Ten on October 12th
COEUR d' ALENE, Idaho - Idaho's First Lady Lori Otter had a clear message for meth dealers at a presentation in Coeur d'Alene Friday morning. "We're going to arrest you, take your money, and use it against you."
She was speaking on behalf of the Idaho Meth Project after receiving a forty thousand dollar check from the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office. The amount of money received had grown from five thousand dollars last year.
"I can say without hesitation we are winning the battle. We've had a 50% reduction of first time use over the last five years." According to a Kootenai County press release, 2.2 pounds of pounds of meth, thirteen vehicles and over $800,000 was seized from August 2011 and September 2012 through the sheriff's criminal interdiction program.
Here's how the criminal interdiction program works. When the sheriffs department makes an arrest they seize drugs, cash, vehicles and whatever else is used in the production and distribution of drugs.
Those seized items are awarded to the county after a court process that can take months to complete. From that, a percentage goes back to prevention, and the Idaho Meth Project. So when the Idaho Meth Project receives money that interrupts the drug supply, Lori Otter is direct. "Take that bad guys. We are going to get you and we're not going anywhere anytime soon."
