Pubdate: Mon, 05 Jun 2000
Source: Texarkana Gazette (TX)
Copyright: 2000 Texarkana Gazette
Contact:  P.O. Box 621, Texarkana Texas 75504
Website: http://www.texarkanagazette.com/
Author: Lori Dunn

DRUG MAKERS STEAL KEY CHEMICAL FROM FARMERS

GARLAND CITY, Ark.-Sitting in a cottonfield with his truck lights dimmed, 
Rodney Heigle watched as someone approached his anhydrous ammonia tanks. 
Moments later the person was gone.

"It only takes about a minute to get a few gallons," Heigle said.

He immediately called the Miller County Sheriff's Department to report the 
theft.

It was not the first time anhydrous ammonia, a chemical used on farms as a 
fertilizer, has been taken from his property.

"I'd bet you it's been 100 times at least," he said.

Heigle and his brother grow cotton and corn on farmland just off state 
Highway 134 about 10 miles south of Garland City, Ark.

Several times they have witnessed the theft of their anhydrous ammonia. The 
farmers keep their distance and call the authorities.

"I've called Toby Giles (chief deputy for Miller County) from my tractor 
two or three times. It's happened in broad daylight. We'll see a car stop 
and by the time we get in the pickup, they have gotten what they want and 
are gone," Heigle said.

But most of the time the only way they can tell something is wrong is by 
what the suspects leave behind.

"Beer cans are real popular," Heigle said.

Giles said all local farmers have been good about communicating with the 
Sheriff's Department on the thefts.

"What they have been doing recently is when they get a load of ammonia, 
they call us up and tell us. We try and keep an eye on it. They have been 
working real well with us," he said.

The rash of thefts began about two years ago just as methamphetamine use 
began to be a widespread problem in the Texarkana area.

"We started noticing things. A mask we used when we were around the ammonia 
was missing. We started watching real close," Heigle said.

On a recent visit to his tanks, Heigle discovered a small battery and part 
of a needle on the ground.

Attempts at securing the tanks have never worked well.

"We've put high dollar caps on them but I guess they took them off. They've 
brought cutters, torches, you name it. The last time they held a bucket 
under the taps. My brother put tape on them so we would know when they were 
here," Heigle said.

On a recent visit there were holes in the tape.

"They have been here," he said.

Once the brothers hid a video camera in the grass across the road from the 
tanks.

The tape showed a theft in progress but it was not very clear.

"They whipped up in a van, one jumped out with a bucket and then all we saw 
was a cloud of smoke," Heigle said.

The tanks at the Heigle brother's farm will hold about 12,000 gallons of 
anhydrous ammonia. They usually keep about half that amount i n the tanks 
but now they are keeping even less.

Anhydrous ammonia only costs a few cents a gallon and is not a large 
financial loss to farmers. But Heigle worries about the dangers the stolen 
ammonia can cause.

"It's 82 percent nitrogen," he said. "It will burn your eyes. It will go in 
your lungs and just freeze. It's going to kill somebody one day."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jo-D