Pubdate: Sun, 07 Sep 2003
Source: Tennessean, The (TN)
Copyright: 2003 The Tennessean
Contact:  http://www.tennessean.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/447
Author: Leon Alligood, Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

MIDSTATE METH LABS USING FERTILIZER FOR DEADLY MIX

Methamphetamine, the homemade drug that has become the scourge of the 
Cumberland Plateau east of Nashville, is slowly moving into western Middle 
Tennessee.

But there's a difference in the manufacturing processes between the two 
regions. Instead of "cooking" a witch's brew of chemicals on a stove, as 
the makers do on the plateau, the self-taught chemists in Hickman, 
Humphreys and Wayne counties use anhydrous ammonia, a fertilizer, to create 
a heat-producing chemical reaction.

It's called the "Nazi method."

And it's already proved to be a deadly difference, according to law 
enforcement.

"She probably didn't even know what hit her. It was that quick," said 
Hickman County Sheriff Randal Ward, referring to the Aug. 10 death of Vicky 
Denise Harris, 41, of Hohenwald, Tenn.

Harris was killed when a small tank containing anhydrous ammonia ruptured 
inside a Pleasantville community garage where Hickman County deputies 
discovered components of a meth lab. Another person, Brian Powers, 28, was 
able to escape the garage but was seriously injured; his condition was not 
known yesterday.

No one has been charged in connection with the case, but the local grand 
jury will consider the facts soon, said Ward, who added that it's unclear 
whether Harris played any role in the meth lab.

But as far as the Hickman sheriff is concerned, her death should serve as a 
wake-up call for his deputies and for "anyone foolish to mess with it."

In drug circles, the anhydrous ammonia process is known as the "Nazi 
method" because the Germans allegedly developed the formulation during 
World War II as a way to produce the drug quickly for soldiers of the Third 
Reich. Meth, also known as "speed," stems hunger and sleep.

The story of the name, as told on several meth-related Web sites, alleges 
the drug was a last-ditch effort to turn the tide of the war.

Using anhydrous ammonia, a meth cooker can make a batch of the drug in 
about half the time needed by the other primary method, often called the 
"red phosphorous" method.

But anhydrous ammonia is only available in areas where the chemical is used 
as a fertilizer, for crops such as corn. The name "anhydrous ammonia" means 
it's ammonia without water content.

Farmers inject it into the ground to add nitrogen into the soil. But the 
caustic chemical, which is stored as a liquid, becomes a gas on contact 
with the air. Its fumes burn human tissue, both on the skin and internally.

It requires careful attention, according to Harry Sommers, resident agent 
in charge of the Nashville office of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

"I think we would say it's not necessarily more dangerous than the red 
phosphorous method. They are both flammable and explosive, but it does seem 
there are other dangers that are more inherent with the anhydrous. Clearly 
inhalation is a problem. They die from it," Sommers said.

"It's something we are concerned with on the law enforcement side, too. 
Accidental inhalation is a risk."

In Humphreys County, where 14 labs have been seized by DEA and other 
agencies since September 2001, law enforcement have been concerned with the 
increase in labs and with the thefts of anhydrous ammonia.

"When we have a grand jury down there, theft cases involving anhydrous 
ammonia represent a significant portion of the docket in Humphreys County. 
It's not 50%, but it's significant," said District Attorney General Dan 
Alsobrooks, who prosecutes cases in that county, along with Cheatham, 
Dickson, Houston and Stewart counties.

A commercial anhydrous ammonia distribution center - one that sells the 
chemical to farmers - in the southern part of Humphreys County is struck 
frequently by thieves, he noted.

"It draws people, and it's driving law enforcement crazy. Despite regularly 
making arrests and regularly prosecuting people and regularly sending 
people to jail, there does not seem to be a deterrent. They keep coming," 
Alsobrooks said.

In January a tank of the chemical stolen in Humphreys County overturned in 
Wayne County, spilling its contents, said Wayne County Sheriff Carl Skelton.

"It put one of my officers in the hospital from smelling it," the lawman noted.

"The meth use is just becoming so great that people are willing to play 
around with this stuff. I call it 'bathtub meth.' It's a killing chemical."
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