Pubdate: Fri, 07 Feb 2003
Source: Smithfield Herald, The (NC)
Copyright: 2003, The News & Observer Publishing Company.
Contact:  http://www.smithfieldherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2756
Author: Traci Ashley
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

METH LABS THE NEWEST SCOURGE

JOHNSTON COUNTY -- In 1997, Chad Thompson busted his first methamphetamine lab.

At the time, Thompson was a police officer in the Sampson County town of 
Roseboro, and he had seen meth before on the streets. But the 1997 bust 
marked the first time he had nabbed a person for making the highly 
addictive drug.

"It was all trafficked in from over the border," recalled Thompson, now a 
Johnston County drug agent. "Before then, I wasn't dealing with any of the 
locals making the stuff."

Four years later, in 2001, Thompson busted the same man again -- this time 
for cooking up meth in a rented house outside of Benson.

And since then, "mom and pop" drug labs have been sprouting up all over the 
county. Meth labs have become so prominent in Johnston that county drug 
agents are exhausting numerous hours each week searching for more 
clandestine labs in operation.

In the last four months, Johnston drug agents have hunted down 10 labs in 
homes, sheds and cars and have made more than 15 arrests for making and 
possessing meth. Two of the busts netted more than $650,000 of the drug.

"It's growing by leaps and bounds," said Craig Fish, captain of the 
Narcotics Division within the Sheriff's Department. "No other drug compares 
to meth and the growth we've had over the last several months." Thompson 
agreed. "For every one meth lab we've gotten, I would say there are three 
that we haven't gotten," he said.

Cheap to make, profitable to sell

A drug with roots on the West Coast, meth, over time, has crept into the 
South, enticing a new breed of drug makers in an area known for its 
moonshiners.

The popularity of meth has risen because the drug is easy to make and 
offers a potent high, drug agents say. Users can smoke, snort, inject or 
eat meth, which gives a euphoric buzz that can linger for 24 hours.

Because meth is so addictive, lab operators are usually meth users who 
sample their product. Once they learn how to make it, most stick to the 
same recipe and enlist a small circle of family members and friends in a 
business that can net more than $2,000 per ounce of the drug.

For the most part, meth cookers flock to rural areas, where they set up 
makeshift labs that can be disassembled quickly. Some labs can even be 
packed in a suitcase and set up in the backseat of a car.

"The odor is so bad from making this stuff," Fish said, describing the 
stench of a rotten egg. "Most people want to get out away from everything 
so their neighbor doesn't catch on to what they're doing."

Perhaps the hardest part of making meth is getting hold of anhydrous 
ammonia -- an agricultural fertilizer. Many meth cookers are so desperate 
for the long-lasting high that they resort to stealing tanks of anhydrous 
ammonia from farmers.

"Most people who deal in meth are the bottom of the barrel," Fish said. 
"This is not a drug that somebody is going to start out with."

Most other ingredients in meth are readily available in stores and include 
ephedrine, which is found in over-the-counter allergy tablets; and common 
household products such as lye, paint thinner, battery acid and campfire 
fuel. And recipes for the drug can be found on the Internet.

For about $100, a person can buy the supplies and within a few hours make a 
thousand dollars worth of meth, drug agents say.

"It doesn't take a nuclear physicist to make methamphetamine," Thompson 
said. "It's not like spliting the atom."

Dangerous investigations

Unlike seizing cocaine or marijuana, getting rid of a meth lab is expensive 
and dangerous, which poses many challenges for law enforcement.

Dismantling a meth lab is not as simple as pulling a marijuana plant out of 
the ground or seizing a pot of crack cocaine off the stove. Meth labs 
contain highly volatile chemicals that can easily explode, causing serious 
injury or death.

In addition, the chemicals pose risks to the environment and to those who 
manufacture meth. The cooking process releases hazardous fumes and leaves 
behind gallons of toxic waste that is often poured down drains or directly 
onto the ground.

"Some of these people don't realize, know or care how dangerous these 
chemicals are," Thompson said.

Others do, but still operate the labs anyway. Agents commonly find masks, 
rubber gloves and other protective gear when they bust a lab.

So far, no one has been injured in a Johnston County meth lab, but drug 
agents say it's only a matter of time. Investigators believe a bad batch of 
meth caused a house fire last week near Benson.

To ensure their safety during raids, drug agents call in a 
hazardous-materials team, the State Bureau of Investigation and the Drug 
Enforcement Agency to clean up and help local officers investigate every 
meth lab.

Cleanup measures are expensive -- costing on average about $5,000 -- and 
are beyond the financial means of most local jurisdictions. Currently, 
Johnston agents call in a cleanup crew from Tennessee because the group has 
a contract with the DEA, which foots the bill.

While the idea is cost-effective for local agencies, it ties up agents for 
hours, sometimes days, at one meth lab. "Once we find one, it takes so long 
to finish it," Thompson said, noting that agents spend as many as 18 to 20 
hours at the scene of meth labs. "The only answer is more manpower."

What the future holds

Sheriff Steve Bizzell said the increasing number of meth labs in Johnston 
has placed a burden on the seven agents who make up his drug division. But 
despite thin resources, officers are finding more and more meth, he added.

"This is an influx we've not experienced in the past, and we've got to deal 
with it," Bizzell said.

To date, Bizzell said, his officers have had to teach themselves a lot of 
what they now know about the drug because it is so new to the area. But as 
agents learn more, they are becoming better trained to spot illegal labs 
and, as a result, are making more arrests.

"It's something that started out West and moved in here real quick," 
Bizzell said. "It's becoming a replacement drug for crack cocaine, and it's 
becoming a choice among drug users."

Bizzell is scouting training opportunities for his officers but says 
education in itself isn't enough to thwart a new drug problem. "I've got to 
have additional resources, and that's going to include manpower," he said. 
"I have an obligation as sheriff to be equipped with men, training and 
resources to effectively and efficiently eradicate this meth problem that 
we are experiencing."
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