Pubdate: Mon, 15 Mar 2004
Source: Coles County Leader (IL)
Copyright: 2004 Coles County Leader
Contact:  www.colescountyleader.com
Phone: 217-276-0115
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

COPS ASK FEDS, FARMERS FOR HELP FIGHTING METH

Reprinted from Farm Week magazine with permission of the Illinois Farm Bureau.

Law enforcement officials statewide are looking to federal support and ag 
community "partnerships" to deal with a growing and distinctly rural 
epidemic: production and distribution of the drug methamphetamine.

According to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, "meth" has become 
"the most dangerous drug problem of small-town America."

It is easy to make -- many ingredients can be found in and around the home 
- -- and the portability of meth production has led to increased trespassing 
on and use of farm properties by meth "cooks."

Because anhydrous ammonia is a major component, meth production has led to 
widespread thefts from farms and ag suppliers. Further, Champaign County 
Sheriff Dan Walsh noted reports that some cooks now are adding an ag 
herbicide as well to their recipe.

Walsh told FarmWeek the problem has "mushroomed" in Illinois over the past 
year: The Illinois State Police (ISP) reported some 971 meth labs were 
identified in 2003.

Effingham Police Department drug investigator Tony Stephens, whose 
sister-in-law, Effingham County Farm Bureau manager Julie Stephens, helped 
mount an anhydrous antitheft campaign, said that in Effingham's outlying 
areas, anhydrous suppliers are "getting hit every night, sometimes twice."

Walsh reported that "if (fertilizer) plant No. 1 gets hit three times in a 
row, and we sit on it, (thieves) go to plant No. 2."

Sheer manpower thus may be one of the most crucial elements in cracking 
down on meth production.

Master Sgt. Bruce Liebe, ISP clandestine lab program coordinator, said 
$295,196 in new U.S. Justice Department funds would be used to provide his 
agency with overtime pay as well as global positioning, safety, and other 
gear necessary to seize and dismantle labs.

"But a big help from an enforcement aspect would be partnerships created 
with the agricultural community, the general citizenry, and with 
merchants," he said.

"By creating awareness and partnerships, we get a lot of information that 
leads into meth lab investigations and seizures."

Officers not only must seize and secure meth production facilities but also 
arrange for U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency-contracted cleanup of 
manufacturing wastes.

As part of the production process, the cook uses a hydrogen chloride gas 
generator that leaves behind residues that can injure farmers or police and 
can even contaminate nearby water supplies.

Police agencies that fail to use federally prescribed procedures and 
trained personnel to clean up lab sites must shoulder hefty cleanup costs. 
Even then, average costs for cleaning up a site run about $3,500, and law 
enforcement agencies are charged only with clearing "gross contamination" 
- -- i.e., removing production equipment and materials.

The owner of a property used for meth production is left with the 
responsibility for costs incurred by any resulting contamination or 
destruction to property.

In the Midwest, such damage often is minimal because manufacturers normally 
cook relatively small batches.

On the positive side, meth manufacturers or their suppliers who are injured 
while stealing anhydrous by law cannot sue producers or farm chemical dealers.

Some cooks now use red phosphorus, the material found on a match head, as 
an anhydrous alternative, said Champaign County's Walsh. Both forms of 
production are prone to fire or explosion and exposure to either chemical 
can result in serious health problems.

To make matters worse, phosgene gas produced from phosphorous is odorless, 
tasteless, and "extremely poisonous," Liebe said.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager