Pubdate: Sun, 03 Jul 2005
Source: Enid News & Eagle (OK)
Copyright: Enid News & Eagle 2005
Contact:  http://www.enidnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2012
Author: Cass Rains
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

EPD KEEPS A TIGHT REIN ON METH TRADE

Using Oklahoma's law restricting the purchase of over-the-counter medicines 
containing pseudoephedrine -- an ingredient used for cooking 
methamphetamine -- officers from Enid Police Department have helped to stem 
the tide of meth production in Garfield County, as well as northwest Oklahoma.

In the beginning ...

In July 2004, Patrolman Jason Priest was called to Walgreen's Pharmacy to 
investigate a call of two suspicious women.

"They were trying to act like they weren't there together, but you could 
tell they were," Priest said.

Each of the women bought a box of cold medicine containing pseudoephedrine.

Priest then used the pharmacy's logbook to identify the two women and 
realized he recognized a lot of the names in the book, and the amounts and 
frequency of purchases were odd, too.

"On average, a person will take about 10 grams (of medicines containing 
pseudoephedrine) a year," Priest said, "or three boxes.

"A lot of these people were buying nine grams or a little less at exactly 
the 30-day mark or a few days after. Some were going all over town and 
buying 30 or more grams in a day."

After making copies of the logbooks from all pharmacies in Enid, Priest 
began creating a database of the names he recognized or those with odd 
purchasing habits.

"I updated the books in November and had 150 identified who had bought too 
much, probably for illegal purposes.

"I went through and highlighted the names I knew and thinned out the 
database," Priest said. "I brought it down to right around 45 people."

Of those 45 identified, Priest and other officers working with the logbook 
investigation narrowed the list down to six or seven cooks, with the 
remainder just buying pills for the pseudoephedrine.

"You can get $20 or $100 for a box, or $50 and bump," Priest said. "A 
'bump' would be an injection of the finished product."

Priest said there are groups of about five or six people, usually with one 
a cook and the other to purchase what is needed to cook a batch of meth.

"There are little circles of groups that are co-conspirators," he said. 
"They're buying or stealing for one or two cooks."

So far, Priest's logbook investigation has resulted in 73 defendants, 101 
cases, more than $10,000 of seized drug money, two vehicles, 16 major 
charges, 23 charges of possession of methamphetamine, 10 labs seized, 10 
charges of possession with intent to distribute and 15 search warrants.

"It's very labor intensive and takes a lot of footwork," said Lt. Dean 
Grassino with Enid Police Department Detective Division's Narcotics 
Enforcement and Criminal Interdiction Unit.

"Jason is an extremely proactive officer," Grassino said. "He put a lot of 
his own hours to this.

"It was Jason's brainchild, but he wasn't able to do it without help."

Priest and Grassino are quick to point out the subsequent arrests and cases 
built were part of "an extremely large team effort."

Results of their efforts

Two major busts within the last six months have helped Enid police curb 
meth production in Enid with explicit results.

"It's been some time since we've seen a dump within Enid city limits," 
Grassino said.

A "dump" is a site where items from a used meth lab have been discarded.

"It's called a lab just for the lack of a better term," Grassino said. 
"It's not like a high-school science class with glass tubes and burners. 
It's things like pop bottles and aquarium tubing and Igloo chests, everyday 
household items. You can cook it anywhere."

Grassino said meth labs have a strong odor of ammonia or ether.

Priest said he could drive through a neighborhood with his window down and 
smell an active meth lab.

"It just froze my nose," Priest said. "It just smelled like a meth lab."

Priest's patrols aren't what they once were.

By catching those who purchase illegal amounts of pseudoephedrine before 
they can manufacture, they effectively have cut down the supply of 
methamphetamine.

"I haven't arrested somebody in a couple of months for powdered meth," 
Priest said.

Both officers realize the problem isn't easily solved.

"We have statistics saying that everyone cook teaches about 10 people how 
to cook," Grassino said.

"If you can cook cookies and follow a recipe, you can cook meth."

With the logbooks helping other officers further develop cases and spawning 
other investigations, statistics show the number of meth producers is 
decreasing.

"We've seen a 63 percent decrease in the amount of meth labs in Enid 
between 2003 and 2004," Grassino said.

"This whole operation has been a success."

Major busts and what's to come

Priest and other EPD officers have had two major busts in the past six 
months, as well as three other raids, with help from the logbook 
investigations. The majority of charges resulting from these two busts are 
not for meth but are precursor charges such as conspiracy to possess 
pseudoephedrine with intent to manufacture methamphetamine to possession of 
pseudoephedrine.

Each conviction of one of these counts brings a sentence of seven years to 
life imprisonment and a minimum fine of $50,000.

These are the charges simply because police are arresting suspects using 
the cold pill law before they have a chance to cook meth.

On Jan. 27, Enid police launched an early morning raid based upon some of 
the logbook work and subsequent investigations, netting a total of 19 
arrests with 93 felony charges and six misdemeanor charges.

Sgt. Tim Jacobi of EPD Narcotics Unit stressed in January this was not just 
the purchase of medicines containing pseudoephedrine warranting the 
investigation.

Jacobi said the amounts and times in which they were purchased were what 
led the department to investigate.

"This was not a random thing," Jacobi said. "Most the people arrested were 
well known to the Enid Police Department prior to this."

On June 23, another early morning raid was launched. This time the bust 
yielded 16 arrests and a total of 73 felony drug charges, with 12 charged 
that day in Garfield County District Court.

All told, those two busts resulted in more than 30 arrests and 160 felony 
charges.

In both raids, the logbooks were used to identify buyers. In turn, those 
identified were questioned, leading police to other suspects.

"You can definitely expect more arrests from this investigation," Jacobi said.

Cracking a small smile Priest said, "This thing is not over."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom