Pubdate: Tue, 06 May 2003 Source: Springfield News-Leader (MO) Copyright: 2003 The Springfield News-Leader Contact: http://www.springfieldnews-leader.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1129 METH COOKS CREATE AMMONIA Drug Makers Concoct Only Methamphetamine Ingredient That Cannot Be Purchased Legally St. Louis - Authorities once bent on curbing thefts of anhydrous ammonia often used for methamphetamine have a new problem: Savvy makers of the drug apparently are crafting the ammonia on their own. Authorities this year raided a lab making anhydrous ammonia in Lemay, a St. Louis suburb. Two recent raids of meth labs in St. Francois County reportedly found cooks doing the same, said Capt. Scott Reed, a Missouri Highway Patrol drug investigator. And in Overland, another St. Louis suburb, authorities believe a home caught fire this year after the recipe for anhydrous ammonia went awry in the making of meth, a powerful stimulant that can be smoked, injected or taken in pill form. To Reed, creating homemade anhydrous ammonia is "the next big thing in Missouri meth." The patrol estimates there is a theft of anhydrous ammonia at least nightly somewhere in Missouri, where the fertilizer is legally used for crops and illegally converted to a meth ingredient. Last year, more than one of every six meth labs in the country were found in Missouri, where police recorded a nation-leading 2,725 raids and seizures, according to federal and state figures released in March, a 28 percent increase over 2001. The drug is made in makeshift labs using pseudoephedrine, the active ingredient in most cold pills, and other ingredients such as anhydrous ammonia or red phosphorous, found in flares and matches. Anhydrous ammonia is the only ingredient that can't be bought legally for recipes that make the most powerful, popular meth, meaning the relative lack of availability often limits how much meth a cook can make. Attempts to make anhydrous ammonia often fail, but Detective Jason Grellner of the Franklin County Sheriff's Department narcotics unit said rewards, such as potential cost savings and lower likelihood of being caught, outweigh the risks for most meth cooks. Attempts to make anhydrous ammonia have not made it to southwest Missouri - where small labs have exploded - said Springfield police spokesman Officer Matt Brown. "We haven't heard anything along those lines," he said. "Our guys haven't seen it on the street yet." Higher awareness of meth and its ingredients makes it harder to steal anhydrous ammonia, meaning the chemical's black-market price can top $100 a gallon, a huge markup. Also each year, police catch hundreds of suspected meth cooks transporting stolen anhydrous ammonia or storing it in unlawful containers. Among the potential perils: Anhydrous ammonia generators - devices that cooks craft from bottles, buckets and tubes to make the chemical - can explode. If enough gas escapes from the generator, it can burn, incapacitate or kill those nearby. The process used by meth cooks to make anhydrous ammonia also leaves behind a corrosive byproduct that could injure people exposed to it and hurt the environment, said Christopher Boldt, a Missouri Department of Natural Resources chemist. And police say homemade fertilizer could lead to bigger drug labs. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens