Enforcement efforts are beginning to pay off in Kansas’ war on methamphetamine makers, Kansas Bureau of Investigation officials said.

For the first time in a decade, statewide statistics compiled annually by the KBI show seizures of methamphetamine labs declined.

“Hopefully this shows we are finally making progress against this scourge,” KBI Director Larry Welch said.

Final statistics for 2002 showed 728 meth lab seizures. In 2001, 846 labs were seized.

In Douglas County, however, KBI records show methamphetamine lab seizures actually went up — from 10 in 2001 to 13 in 2002.

That could mean more people are reporting meth labs and investigative work is paying off, said Lawrence Police Sgt. Tarik Khatib, supervisor of the Lawrence-Douglas County Drug Enforcement Unit. The unit includes investigators from the police department and sheriff’s office.

Khatib said the state had done a good job educating people to recognize suspected meth lab operations. But he said he wasn’t sure why the number of lab seizures in the county increased last year.

“Perhaps we’re reacting better to the information,” he said.

The meth lab problem in Kansas first drew serious attention in 1996. KBI records showed lab seizures jumped from seven in 1995 to 71 in 1996.

Last year the number of meth lab cases sent to the KBI for analysis actually increased, Welch said. That could mean that not all of the state’s law enforcement agencies had submitted paperwork for last year.

Welch also said he was concerned federal budget problems might end grant funding that agencies had used to help pay for drug enforcement efforts.