Pubdate: Wed, 28 Sep 2005
Source: Post and Courier, The (Charleston, SC)
Copyright: 2005 Evening Post Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.charleston.net/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/567
Author: Nita Birmingham, Of the Post and Courier
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

AUTHORITIES BAND TOGETHER TO FIGHT METH

Dorchester County sheriff's Sgt. Mike Miller was handing out fliers 
about an upcoming seminar on methamphetamine when an employee of a 
Summerville grocery store asked him why people were shoplifting 
lithium batteries.

She didn't know lithium batteries are commonly used to make meth, but 
her lack of knowledge isn't unusual. Miller said too many people he's 
talked to on the street don't know much about the drug that shows no 
sign of slowing in popularity.

Most of the meth labs found in the Charleston area have been in 
Berkeley and Dorchester counties. The Dorchester County Sheriff's 
Office has investigated at least 14 labs this year. Last year's total 
was 24. Berkeley County narcotics agents found 30 labs last year and 
have investigated 15 so far this year, Capt. Whilden Baggett said.

Miller and Baggett expect both counties to at least match last year's 
numbers. Both say the public plays a vital role in tracking down the 
makeshift labs, which Baggett said have been found "just about 
anywhere you can think -- homes, subdivisions, trailer parks, 
apartment buildings, barns, cars."

Miller hopes for a good turnout of retailers and residents at an 
upcoming seminar that will include a display of a mock meth lab and 
information on the history of the drug and its impact on communities. 
It is hosted by sheriff's offices in Berkeley, Dorchester, 
Charleston, Orangeburg and Calhoun counties and the 1st and 9th 
Circuit solicitors. The sheriffs and solicitors also will sign a 
declaration proclaiming a war on meth at 1 p.m. Friday in the front 
parking lot of Trident Medical Center in North Charleston. It calls 
on the public to help law enforcement apprehend people engaged in the 
meth trade.

Baggett said agents get a lot of tips from the community.

"We have people call and report strange behavior in the neighborhood, 
people staying up all hours of the night, people coming and going 
constantly," he said.

"We can't do it without the public's help. We need to have those 
tips. We need to have our neighbors knowing what's going on next 
door," Miller said. 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake