Pubdate: Thu, 22 May 2003
Source: Florida Times-Union (FL)
Copyright: 2003 The Florida Times-Union
Contact: http://www.times-union.com/aboutus/letters_to_editor.html
Website: http://www.times-union.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/155
Author: Jim Schoettler, Times-Union staff writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

LAW ENFORCEMENT FIGHTS METHAMPHETAMINE

Officers Preparing For War On Drug Labs

The equipment and ingredients for the deadly drug are available in any 
discount department store.

The recipe for its highly addictive brew can be found on dozens of Internet 
sites, though most cookers learn through word of mouth.

The clandestine laboratories could be anywhere close by -- a neighbor's 
kitchen table, an adjoining motel room or a passing car.

Crank. Ice. Speed. Crystal meth. Whatever its nickname, the powerful 
stimulant known legally as methamphetamine is coming to a neighborhood near 
you, if it isn't already next door, federal drug agents warn.

"It could be in a million-dollar house or the shed down the street. It 
could be in the $50,000 Escalade in the front yard or a Pinto in the back," 
said special agent Mark Greer of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's 
Jacksonville office. "It's growing and growing, and it's getting here."

To combat the growing numbers of clandestine makeshift methamphetamine labs 
nationwide, the DEA is training local and state police in identifying labs 
and how to handle the potential dangers from poisonous gas and toxic chemicals.

This week, the first such school in Florida is being held in Jacksonville 
under the tutelage of local DEA agents. About 40 police officers from 
throughout the state are undergoing classroom training, including meth 
cooking sessions, and field exercises that include using protective suits 
needed to dismantle labs.

The training is required by federal safety officials, because officers face 
hazardous conditions in labs.

"Simply knocking over a tube or turning on a light switch could lead to an 
explosion," said Randy Bohman, assistant special agent in charge of the 
Jacksonville DEA office. "This [training] will allow them to go in, 
investigate and dismantle them safely."

Methamphetamine is popular because it is cheap to make and buy and the high 
lasts much longer than other drugs, such as crack cocaine, Bohman said. The 
drug is highly addictive and can cause violent reactions.

Methamphetamine first became popular in the West in the 1970s when the 
Hell's Angels and Outlaws motorcycle gangs were involved in making and 
distributing the white powder. Mexican drug cartels, using cheap farm 
labor, set up labs in the West in the '80s and moved the drug into 
Midwestern states such as Missouri in the early 1990s. The drug slowly has 
moved eastward since.

The DEA seized about 8,000 labs last year nationwide, compared with 3,000 
in 1998. In Florida, authorities already have shut down about 120 labs this 
year, compared with 134 in 2002 and 30 in 2001.

Locally, labs have been found in St. Johns and Clay counties, and multiple 
labs have been found in Southeast Georgia. On Tuesday, police in Glynn 
County, Ga., charged a father and son with running a meth lab in their home.

One of the primary ingredients in making methamphetamine is the chemical 
pseudoephedrine, found in colds medicines. Those cold tablets are ground 
into powder and often used in a 10-step process that involves alcohol, 
ether and other products to extract the chemicals needed to make the substance.

It takes about three hours to make a batch of methamphetamine. An ounce of 
the drug can be made for $100 to $200 and sold for $1,000 or more.

For every pound of methamphetamine made, there are about 6 pounds of 
hazardous waste -- waste that often is dumped in fields or streams. It 
takes about a half day for police to collect evidence, clean up what they 
can and call in contract disposal experts to remove hazardous waste from 
labs. Last year, it cost more than $700,000 to clean up labs in Florida.

Police often are unaware that a meth lab is awaiting them when they respond 
to other crimes.

"It happens in the middle of the night, when deputies go to a domestic and 
walk into a lab," Greer said. "That's the most common way."

DEA agents and local police plan to combine forces to keep the drug from 
overwhelming local neighborhoods, as crack cocaine did in the late 1980s 
and early to mid-1990s.

"We're trying to get ahead of the game and make people aware of the 
dangers," Bohman said. "It's going to happen here. We need to be proactive. 
You have to know what you're looking for."
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager