Washington ? After more than a decade leading the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, Larry Welch is taking an unusual detour to help fight methamphetamine abuse in the state.

The law enforcement veteran who lives in Lawrence has become a congressional fellow in the office of Kansas Rep. Jerry Moran to offer guidance on dealing with the drug problem.

“I’m just a liaison connecting law enforcement to the congressman,” Welch said Wednesday.

The two-month appointment carries no salary, although Welch said he will be reimbursed for travel expenses.

Since he began working for Moran last month, Welch, 71, already has helped Moran connect with sheriffs and other police officials across Kansas to gauge their needs in dealing with meth trafficking and other drug issues.

“I’m using his understanding of law enforcement issues and his knowledge of people to get better educated,” Moran said.

Later this month, Welch and Moran will meet with top drug enforcement officials in Washington.

Moran’s relationship with Welch goes back to his days in the state Legislature. Moran was one of the lawmakers who helped determine the KBI’s annual budget.

“When I came to Washington, D.C., he followed me, in a sense, with requests for funding of law enforcement initiatives in Kansas,” Moran said.

Moran serves on the Congressional Meth Caucus and has worked to get money for a state program that targets meth importation. Federal funds have also helped pay for more lab equipment and new bulletproof vests to replace outdated equipment for KBI officials.

Recently, Kansas police have had success cracking down on local meth labs where small quantities of the drug are cooked. Despite cutting down on homegrown meth labs, though, the meth supply has been replaced by new illegal shipments from Mexico.

“What we’re seeing now is meth is being imported from Mexico in huge quantities,” Moran said. “Because of our demographics and because of our location and transportation, the demand continues and supply continues to fill that demand.”

In meetings last week with 12 sheriffs from south-central and southeast Kansas, the officials told Moran how frustrating the fight against meth has been.

“When we have success in combating meth in Topeka, it moves to Emporia,” Moran said. “When we have some success in Emporia, it moves to Eureka. It’s a constant putting your finger in a hole in the dike.”

Welch is using his contacts at the Drug Enforcement Administration to set up meetings with Moran and senior DEA officials in Washington. He also has arranged for Moran to talk to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy about fighting meth.

“I’m just trying in a modest way to help the congressman,” Welch said. “Now we need to redirect our resources to importation and trafficking and interdiction of meth.”

Welch said he eventually hopes to write a book on the history of the KBI, which was created in 1939. Before joining the KBI, he spent 25 years in the FBI and was director of the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center.