HERMISTON – Car prowls, burglaries, shoplifting and other thefts are on the rise in Hermiston, and the increase can be linked to expansion in drug trafficking in the area, according to the top federal Drug Enforcement Agency official in Oregon.

“People get drug money through property crimes, which sometimes turn violent,” said Ken Magee, assistant special agent in charge of the DEA’s operations in Oregon.

Last year, Oregon ranked seventh in the nation for the number of methamphetamine labs seized. It’s no surprise that meth production in Oregon is on the rise. National statistics show neighboring California was No. 1 in meth lab seizures, and Washington state was No. 2.

In Umatilla County alone, law enforcement agents last year took down 34 meth labs and seized more than 20,000 marijuana plants.

The region also is a distribution hub for meth and other drugs produced in Mexico, Magee said.

Identity theft also is a growing source of money for drugs, he said. A Federal Trade Commission report released Wednesday showed identity theft complaints nationwide doubled in the past year.

“A large majority of all identity theft investigations will have their nexus in people involved in the drug trafficking trade,” he said. “It’s a huge problem everywhere.”

Local law enforcement agencies have been grappling with explosive growth in drug manufacturing and trafficking throughout the region. The area is attractive to drug traffickers because it’s close to larger cities in the region, it’s easily accessible by state highway, and with only a small number of law enforcement officers spread out over a large and sparely populated region, it’s easy to keep from getting caught. By spring 2002, the problem had become so severe that representatives from the state police, four local law enforcement agencies, and the Umatilla County district attorney sent a letter to U.S. Rep. Greg Walden asking for his help in getting a DEA agent assigned to the region.

Magee said local police departments and the regional interagency drug crime team – the Blue Mountain Enforcement Narcotics Team, or BENT – are doing the best they can with the resources they have.

“They do a great job, and they try their hardest,” he said. “The public needs to be aware of that, and support their local law enforcement.”