COLBY ? Officials say a dramatic increase in the number of methamphetamine labs in northwest Kansas has helped prompt the reactivation of the Quad-County Task Force to stem the flow of drugs through the region.

The task force includes Thomas, Sherman, Logan, Gove and Wallace counties along with the city police departments of Oakley, Colby and Goodland.

The task force was formed in 1991, disbanded in 1996 because of a lack of money and reactivated in 2000 through a four-year grant that requires a local match from member agencies. Its coordinator is Doug Murphy, a 27-year law enforcement veteran.

“The task force is important because drug traffickers know no jurisdictional boundaries,” Murphy said. “The small agencies commonly found in northwest Kansas have limited resources, and by working together they are able to share resources and information in order to better investigate and combat drug trafficking and manufacturing.”

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation recently assigned a full-time undercover narcotics agent to northwest Kansas who will work with the task force and other agencies.

The Kansas Highway Patrol and Thomas County Sheriff’s Office have made large seizures of cash and drugs on the highways, Murphy said, while the task force focuses on local dealers and manufacturers. That doesn’t result in seizing large amounts of drugs or cash, but has a more immediate effect on the local drug problem.

Murphy said that the task force is simply another weapon in the war against drugs, and he hopes residents agree.

Drug problems at the local level result in higher insurance premiums and lower productivity as well as higher taxes to pay for treatment and social programs for abusers and their dependents, he said.

The task force, based in Colby, is managed by a board of law enforcement agency officials from each member city and county. It is under the supervision of Thomas County Undersheriff Mike Baughn.