Pubdate: Wed, 09 May 2001 Source: The Leader Section: Front Page, Above the fold Copyright: 2001Moline Dispatch Publishing Company, L.L.C Website: www.qconline.com Contact: Editorial Office, 1724 4th Ave., Rock Island, IL 61201 Phone: 309-757-8375 Fax: 309-786-7639 Author: Kurt Allemeier FORCE TARGETS METH LABS Firearms drills are just part of the training for a team of police officers assigned to clean up and dismantle methamphetamine labs in the Quad-Cities area. Their weapons training shows that the danger of meth labs doesn't end with the chemicals, their byproducts, and flammable gases. It extends to the drug makers - called "tweakers" by drug officials. Tweakers, fueled by the drug, often stay awake for days at a time and become paranoid and schizophrenic. "You have the hazards of the lab and the hazards of the idiots who run it," said Agent Jim Urquiza, assistant director of the Quad-City Metropolitan Enforcement Group, who oversees the team. At a recent session at the Bettendorf police and fire departments' training site, the team's 15 members - from police agencies on both sides of the river - worked with firearms, identifying different kinds of labs, and procedures for collecting and removing evidence. Team members come from the Rock Island and Scott county sheriff's departments and the Moline, Rock Island, East Moline, Davenport, and Bettendorf police departments. The three-year-old team has handled six methamphetamine labs this year - far below the epidemic number of labs uncovered by law-enforcement agencies elsewhere in Iowa and Illinois, Agent Urquiza said. "We expected the problem to be worse." Last year, 15 methamphetamine labs were uncovered in Scott and Rock Island counties, Agent Urquiza said. In 1999, six of the 246 meth labs seized statewide were in Rock Island County, according to Illinois State Police statistics. No meth labs were discovered in Scott County in 1999 - surprising, considering that 500 were seized in the state, 180 more than in 1998, according to Iowa police statistics. Police officials said having a special team to handle methamphetamine labs has economic, investigative and safety advantages. "It is great to have that team around," Rock Island Police Chief Anthony Scott said. "You get proper handling, and the taxpayers of Rock Island, Moline, East Moline, the county don't have to worry about paying for cleanup." The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) pays for the teams' lab cleanup, Chief Scott said. "It spreads the burden around, with MEG, DEA, and the Illinois and Iowa state police helping," Scott County Sheriff Dennis Conard said. " As far as the sheriff's department is concerned, that would be who would handle that investigation. "It is nice that they pick up on it and carry it through." The DEA and the Occupational Safety and Heath Administration certify team members after training them to handle and clean up meth labs, teaching them the dangers of the labs and familiarizing them with 150 recipes used to make the drug. To make methamphetamines, several common volatile drugs are used, including ether, anhydrous ammonia, and lithium. A quart o ether has the explosive power of four sticks of dynamite; lithium, taken from batteries, explodes when it comes in contact with water. The creation procedure itself leaves dangerous byproducts. Making one pound of methamphetamine creates six pounds of hazardous waste, according to DEA information. Along with firearms and identification drills, team members practice their dismantling and removal skills once a month, wearing chemical suits and scuba gear. "The skills are perishable, so if you don't use them, you forget them, Agent Urquiza said. The suits, other equipment, a truck and an equipment trailer were paid for through grants, he said. Team members share the suits, which cost about $5,000 each, during training and at lab sites. The team also trains at night, Agent Urquiza said. "We have to do this 24 hours a day, seven days a week, whether it is at night or the middle of the day." Cleaning up a lab site can take anywhere from a couple of hours to six or seven, dependning on size, and can cost from $5,000 to $150,000, Agent Urquiza said. Team procedure usually includes a six- to eight-person entry team, with four people in suits on standby outside, Agent Urquiza said. Fire departments and ambulance crews also stand by. Methamphetamine labs are treated as crime scenes, with team members photographing and measuring evidence, Agent Urquiza said. After the team secures the lab site, a hazardous-materials team arrives to dispose of the hazardous chemicals. Illinois labs are cleared by a company from Rockford; while Iowa labs are cleared by a Kansas City company. Unlike most jurisdictions in Iowa and Illinois, which are left to prosecute methamphetamine crimes at the state level - with lesser sentences than at the federal level - the Quad-Cities has the luxury of having a local U.S. attorney's office. Agent Urquiza credits federal prosecution of methamphetatmine crimes in the Quad-Cities area as a reason the drug is not as popular here as in other parts of Iowa and Illinois. "We are ahead of the curve on this."