BAKER CITY – The Eastern Oregon Rural Drug Task Force announced last week that it has received a $94,500 grant from the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program.

The Task Force is comprised of law enforcement officials from Baker, Grant, Harney, Malheur, Morrow, Umatilla, Union, and Wallowa Counties.

The Task Force, formed in 1988, will use the money to facilitate cooperation amongst law enforcement agencies; help identify, seize, and process illicit drugs and pursue the arrest of manufacturers and dealers, and help educate Eastern Oregon communities about the problems and identification of drug use.

Specific activities to be funded include specialized training, the purchase of equipment, funding of a confidential fund pool, paying for targeted overtime activity of narcotics officers, and providing administration for the regional efforts. A confidential fund pool is money that helps cover costs in investigations involving informants, drug buys, surveillance and other confidential operations.

“We are pleased to receive these funds to continue the very effective efforts in Eastern Oregon,” said Matt Shirtcliff, chairman of the Task Force and Baker County District Attorney. “We have confronted many of these drug issues head-on over the past five years, and we know that we are making a real difference.”

The six-county region comprises 38,000 square miles, approximately 40 percent of Oregon’s land mass. Equally important, the area includes significant drug trafficking routes including Interstate 84, and US Highways 395 and 95.

Perhaps the most single important weapon against drug manufacture has been the change in the state law affecting the sale of pseudophedrin, the primary ingredient in Sudafed and other over-the-counter medications. The changes in the state law, combined with the Task Force efforts, have substantially curtailed the manufacture of methamphetamine in Eastern Oregon.

The Task Force includes representatives from each of the six counties. Key agencies include local police departments, sheriffs’ offices, the Oregon State Police, and district attorneys’ offices.

The grant application was prepared by Brian Cole of Orbis Group of Baker City. The Task Force will use Cole’s consulting firm, Orbis Group, to administrate the activities of the Regional Task Force.