Pubdate: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 Source: Charleston Daily Mail (WV) Copyright: 2005 Charleston Daily Mail Contact: http://www.dailymail.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/76 Author: George Gannon Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) METH MAKERS MAY CROSS BORDER FOR DRUG Police say a new law passed by the state Legislature will help them battle the methamphetamine problem, but law enforcement officials in counties that border other states still face the problem of drug abusers going across state lines to buy products containing pseudoephedrine. The new law limits access to the drugs by forcing pharmacies to place them behind counters. In Parkersburg, a police task force that has been successful in beating down the meth problem is prepared to assist officers in neighboring Ohio, where such a law doesn't exist yet. Capt. Rick Woodyard of the Parkersburg Violent Crime and Narcotics Task Force said he would like to see some type of federal legislation that limits access to pseudoephedrine. But until that happens, his office is notifying its contemporaries in Ohio about a possible influx of people looking to buy over-the-counter cold medicine used to make meth. "We still believe that the bill is going be very effective for West Virginia," he said. "Border towns might still see a little bit of activity simply because someone can cross the border." Woodyard said law enforcement officials in Ohio are planning to introduce similar legislation next year. "We work really close with Washington County Sheriff's Department and the Athens County Sheriff's Department, notifying them about the bill and notifying them about a possible invasion into Ohio for the precursor chemicals," he said. Meanwhile, the current meth situation in Parkersburg and Wood County is nothing compared to years past or what Kanawha and Putnam counties are currently dealing with. When the highly addictive drug first hit West Virginia about six years ago, it took hold hard Wood County. At the height of the problem, police there took down 57 labs in one year. Meth, a drug made by isolating the active ingredient in pseudoephedrine through a series of volatile chemical procedures, has been crossing the nation since the 1960s. Woodyard said his officers discovered the first lab in 1998. By 2002, Parkersburg police were busting three a week in cars and homes. When police realized a new, easily made drug had hit the streets, they contacted the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in Charleston for help. With federal guidance, police were able to locate more labs. Before they knew what they were dealing with, Woodyard said road patrol and other officers might make a stop or respond to a 911 call and not recognize chemicals used to make the drugs. "Before, they would see three bottles of HEET and some cold medicine in the backseat and think nothing of it," he said. Eventually, Parkersburg police traced the local problem to a group of meth cooks who had moved to Wood County from California. Police arrested members of the group, but Woodyard said their techniques already had been passed on to others. In 2002, police made arrests connected to 57 labs. Today, the problem has been substantially reduced. In 2003, 20 labs were taken down, and Woodyard estimated the same amount were shut down in 2004. Woodyard said the area covered by his officers, which includes Jackson, Pleasants, Richie, Roane, Wirt and Wood counties, is one of the few areas of the country that has successfully beaten back the meth problem. He credited several initiatives for helping combat the problem, namely a vigilant law enforcement community, but the problem decreased dramatically after the officers learned many of the meth-making supplies were coming from one place -- a business in Columbus, Ohio. In the Kanawha Valley, police believe most of the meth is being produced by people who buy their materials at a variety of department stores, hardware stores and pharmacies. A joint investigation involving the drug unit, State Police and the DEA revealed that a lab in Columbus, Ohio, supplied many of the cooks in the Wood County area with their materials. After a yearlong monitoring operation, John Elliott Delong was arrested on federal charges of conspiring to manufacture meth and now is serving a 188-month prison sentence. Woodyard said he hopes once the governor signs the bill that limits accesses to pseudoephedrine, other parts of the state can be spared the devastation wrought by the drug. "If you don't have the precursor, pseudoephedrine, you can have every other ingredient, but you're not going to make meth," he said. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom