Pubdate: Fri, 24 May 2002 Source: Tampa Tribune (FL) Copyright: 2002, The Tribune Co. Contact: http://www.tampatrib.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/446 Author: Deborah Alberto of the Tribune Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) POLK NABS ANOTHER METH-MAKING SUSPECT Health Officials Tie Drug to Hepatitis A WINTER HAVEN - Polk County officials claimed another victory Thursday in the war on methamphetamine abuse. Sheriff's officials arrested Victor Anthony Vivi of Winter Haven just after 3 a.m. and said they found items used to make and use methamphetamine, including muriatic acid, acetone, pipes and syringes, in his car and home. Polk is known in law enforcement circles as the methamphetamine capital of Florida. And an outbreak of hepatitis A that officials call the worst epidemic in Polk in the past 10 years has been linked to methamphetamine abuse. Vivi was booked into the Polk County Jail and charged with manufacturing/ trafficking in methamphetamine and possession of a controlled substance, officials said. Vivi was being held Thursday. His bail was set at $16,000. The investigation continues, and more arrests are expected, sheriff's officials said. ``This morning's arrest and seizure is just another in our ongoing battle to target suppliers in combating methamphetamine,'' sheriff's Maj. Francis Hart said. Hart said the sheriff's office has broken up at least five labs in five months. And while the sheriff's office focuses on getting traffickers off the streets, the county Health Department is intent on resolving the addiction issue. Methamphetamine is not just a drug problem, it's a health issue, said health department director Daniel Haight. Haight estimates 60 percent of hepatitis A cases can be linked to methamphetamine. Hepatitis A can be spread in a number of ways, including through shared needles, sex and unsanitary living conditions. That puts users and their close contacts at risk, Haight said. The county since Jan. 1 has had at least 165 confirmed cases of hepatitis A, compared with 163 for all of last year. ``We continue to encourage drug users to get the hepatitis A vaccine and to get help for their problem,'' he said. Polk is a haven for methamphetamine production because it has lots of rural areas where labs can be set up, its location near major cities and a good highway network for distribution, authorities say. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh