The Northwest HIDTA has supplied over $645,000 to underwrite the deployment costs of State and Local agency clandestine laboratory teams. There were over 300 illicit drug labs investigated and dismantled during 1998 by the five non-federal lab teams. Each lab team response may have an average cost ranging from $1,000 to $3,000. This has presented a tremendous strain on agency budgets. Addressing the illicit drug lab problem is a Northwest HIDTA Strategy priority. Therefore, unexpended salary dollars within the Northwest HIDTA were identified for this purpose. The appropriations were allocated based on a formula derived by the number of clan-lab responses during the preceding year. WSP responds to more drug labs than any other agency. Lab teams in King and Pierce counties handle most county-based investigations, while the Washington State Patrol’s team responds to labs in the other 37 counties of the State.