Pubdate: Sun, 07 Jan 2001 Source: Topeka Capital-Journal (KS) Copyright: 2001 The Topeka Capital-Journal Contact: 616 S.E. Jefferson, Topeka, Kansas 66607 Website: http://cjonline.com/ Author: Tim Hrenchir Bookmark: Methamphetamine http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm FARMS HOLD INGREDIENT FOR METH Drug 'cooks' often steal the nitrogen fertilizer anhydrous ammonia from tanks on farms. Authorities think many local farmers are becoming theft victims -- and don't even know it. Thieves are taking the nitrogen fertilizer anhydrous ammonia from large tanks on area farms and using it to make the illegal drug methamphetamine, said Shawnee County sheriff's Sgt. Marsha Baird. It isn't clear how often anhydrous ammonia is stolen in Shawnee County. Baird said meth makers tend to take only a few gallons at a time from 500-gallon tanks, so farmers often don't realize they have been victimized. Methamphetamine is produced in clandestine labs by "cooks" who usually have no chemistry training. Unofficial Kansas Bureau of Investigation records released last week indicate Shawnee County led the state's counties last year in meth lab seizures with 58. Though there are many recipes for making meth, Baird said, the most popular in Shawnee County is clearly a method that uses anhydrous ammonia. Almost all of the other ingredients needed for that recipe - -- including cold or allergy tablets, acetone and ether -- are readily available at stores. "Normally the cook won't get the anhydrous ammonia until last," Baird said. "A lot of times we've seized a lab that had everything except the anhydrous." Officials say hundreds of 500-gallon anhydrous ammonia tanks dot the rural areas around Topeka. The noxious chemical is kept inside the pressurized tanks in its liquid form, said Danny Akin, manager of STE Ag Services. The business in northwest Shawnee County is a vendor of anhydrous ammonia. "For the most part, we own the tanks and rent them out," Akin said. He said state law requires anyone in possession of the chemical to store it in an "approved container," meaning a pressurized metal tank. Thieves generally can release the chemical from the tank by turning a valve. "The pressure in the tank will push the anhydrous out," Akin said. Officials say thieves use hoses to collect the liquid in such containers as gas cans, plastic milk jugs, fire extinguishers and tanks normally used for propane grills. Possessing the chemical in such containers is illegal, Akin said. Authorities say meth makers generally try to get the noxious chemical to their labs as quickly as possible. "You've got to be nuts to steal anhydrous like that, because it will turn to vapor quick," Akin said. "That's why it has to be under pressure, to keep it in a liquid form." Akin said anhydrous ammonia "freezes your skin immediately when it hits it. We have to wear goggles and rubber gloves when we're working with it." Anhydrous ammonia can be fatal if enough is inhaled or absorbed through the skin. Fortunately, Baird said, there have been no deaths in Shawnee County linked to thefts of the chemical. Still, sheriff's officials note, two men were in a moving car in August 1999 in southwest Shawnee County when anhydrous ammonia was spilled inside. A deputy stopped the car after seeing it moving with one of the occupants sticking his head out of a window. A man in the car suffered chest pains, apparently from breathing the chemical, and was released after treatment at a Topeka hospital. Both were then arrested in connection with crimes that included the attempted manufacture of methamphetamine, a felony. Last June, sheriff's officials said, two men who tried to steal anhydrous ammonia from STE Ag Services were caught after a car chase. Akin said STE has refused service to would-be customers who were thought to be meth makers. "We haven't been approached for quite awhile now, but I'm sure they'll be back," he said. Akin said a number of owners of anhydrous ammonia tanks have put locks on them to try to prevent theft. Baird said County Commissioner Mike Meier, who leaves office Monday, at one point asked the sheriff's department about the possible formation of a secured compound where anhydrous ammonia tanks not in use could be stored. Meier said Thursday that no such compound had been formed and he wasn't sure the idea was feasible. He said he thought many farmers had acted appropriately by purchasing locks for their tanks and keeping them at places where they could be watched. Meier discouraged owners from keeping anhydrous ammonia tanks in the open near public roadways. He noted that quantities of the chemical had been stolen from one of his relatives. "I hid the tanks for him," Meier said. - --- MAP posted-by: Kirk Bauer