The number of meth labs found in Washington dropped by more than 50 percent last year, a decrease credited in part to tough new laws that include banning over-the-counter sales of everyday cold and allergy medications that are used to make methamphetamine.

But into the void stepped Mexican-based drug organizations that ship a purer, more addictive former of the drug - crystal meth, also known as "ice." Officials now say that 75 percent of the state's meth comes from outside its borders, compared to an estimated 50 percent in 2001.

"As we have controlled our domestic problem, our importation problem has increased exponentially," said Washington State Patrol Detective Sgt. Gary Gasseling, who works with the state's Meth Initiative, a coalition of treatment, prevention and enforcement agencies. "These people are very, very well organized, very well connected and they know what they're doing. This is big business for them."

In Oklahoma, the first state to put allergy medications behind pharmacy counters in 2004, meth lab seizures fell 90 percent in a year. But that state's trafficking rose significantly.

Idaho has seen its lab numbers fall as well in the past few years, though its own law doesn't take effect until July, and Maj. Dave Kane of the Idaho State Police said there has been a slight upswing in the number of labs they're finding this year.

"We are spending so much time tracking down drug trafficking organizations, we haven't been able to be as proactive on labs," Kane said.

On a recent raid in south Thurston County, officials said that 33-year-old Miguel Reyes Abarca was a low-level drug trafficker who had made at least two previous sales of the highly addictive drug. No drugs were found that day - the $26,000 worth of meth that that investigators hoped to seize was apparently flushed down a toilet.

Reyes Abarca - a Mexican national - faces deportation, as does a second man, Filiberto Alvarado-Penaloza. Officials haven't yet been able to tie Reyes Abarca or Alvarado-Penaloza to traffickers higher up the food chain.

"We stay pretty busy all the time," said Sgt. Dave Browne, who was supervising the SWAT team's operation outside the Reyes Abarca home. "A lot of these organizations, one guy goes down, another one takes over."

While state officials don't have a definitive number of how many trafficking cases they deal with a year, Capt. Mark Couey said WSP's drug unit seized 14 pounds of trafficked meth last year, compared with 3 pounds in 2004. Statewide, meth trafficking seizures increased from 101 pounds in 2001 to nearly 400 pounds last year, he said.

At purity levels of 90 to 95 percent, crystal meth is much purer and more addictive than home-cooked powder meth.

The number of people seeking treatment for meth addiction has been on a steady increase for several years. The state treated 7,669 adults and 820 teens last year, compared to 6,379 adults and 717 teens the year before, according to the state's Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse.

And the number of methamphetamine-involved deaths continues to rise: 176 deaths in 2002 to 257 last year.

"The demand is still there," Couey said. "That's the unfortunate part."

Attorney General Rob McKenna said meth addiction is tied to everything from identity theft and burglaries to a marked increase in foster care caseloads. For example, Reyes Abarca's two children, both under age 5, were removed from the home and will likely end up in foster care.

"This is the biggest problem to ever hit the state, period," McKenna said. "Meth wrecks families more frequently and more completely than any drug we've ever seen."

State officials are claiming some success. Even before the state passed new laws last year that put pseudoephedrine products behind the counter, officials had been successfully targeting labs in Washington state, which has regularly ranked near the top of the country in the number of meth labs raided annually.

The number of labs and dump sites have decreased from a high of 1,890 in 2000 to 806 last year.

Nearly 40 states, including Washington, now have laws that restrict over-the-counter sales of pseudoephedrine products; in Oregon, a prescription is required.

New provisions of the Patriot Act put federal restrictions on over-the-counter sales that will take effect later this year.

All of these restrictions make it more likely that traffickers will pick up the pace. State and federal officials say that of the 196 trafficking organizations in the state, 86 were involved in meth.

"The addicts are still addicted," McKenna said, "and the traffickers are simply stepping in to meet the demand. We need to meet with the addiction issue as well as the crime issue."

Under a law passed this year, the state will add 100 beds for meth treatment at state prisons and eligible counties can get matching funds up to $100,000 a year from 2008 to 2010 for mental health or drug abuse treatment.

Meanwhile, officials in Washington state said they will continue to work with the Drug Enforcement Agency and other states to stem the tide of meth from Mexico.

"We can't sit back and say we got it fixed," Gasseling said. "Because as soon as we do, something else will pop up. It's a battle we can't afford to back off of."