Pubdate: Wed, 17 Jul 2002
Source: Sun Herald (MS)
Copyright: 2002, The Sun Herald
Contact:  http://www.sunherald.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/432
Author: Karen Nelson
Note: Robin Fitzgerald contributed to this report

DA ASKS FOR RETAILERS' HELP IN NABBING METH PRODUCERS

PASCAGOULA - District Attorney Keith Miller plans this week to begin a 
campaign to get store owners and clerks involved in reporting large 
purchases of items that are used to create crystal methamphetamine.

Items that are commonly sold in retail stores are used to create the 
popular illegal drug, authorities said, so tracking large purchases or 
thefts of these items may help law enforcement officers who are trying to 
stop the drug's production.

"This may be the only illegal drug where the business community can have a 
real impact on enforcement," Miller said Monday.

The effort, though, comes as a surprise to some full-time drug officers, 
who say stores already know to be on the lookout for unusual purchases. "It 
slaps law enforcement in the face," said Bruce Lynd, narcotics agent for 
the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics' Pascagoula office. Lynd's staff has 
been working to educate store owners and others on related drug problems 
for at least two years.

And a spokesman for the district attorney's office in Harrison, Hancock and 
Stone counties said it has no plans to follow Miller. The spokesman said 
law enforcement agencies already coordinate similar efforts.

Miller, though, said he plans a series of meetings with store owners and 
clerks to teach them what to look for. Large purchases of lithium 
batteries, drain cleaner, camp fuel, coffee filters, denatured alcohol or 
the over-the-counter drug pseudoephedrine could indicate someone is buying 
supplies for a meth lab, he said.

He has ordered the printing of more than 500 signs to be displayed in 
pharmacies and quick stops that let the public know the store is 
cooperating in the program and watching out for specific types of 
purchases. Miller also is setting up a hotline for stores to fax 
information on unusual purchases.

"If we get enough information and pass it on to law enforcement, it may be 
enough for a search warrant," Miller said.
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