Pubdate: Sun, 09 Nov 2014
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Copyright: 2014 The Associated Press
Contact:  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/409
Author: Jim Salter, The Associated Press
Page: A8

PURER MEXICAN METH REPLACING AT-HOME U.S. LABS

Cheaper Supply Reaches Rural Areas

Silver Lining Is Meth Labs Now Dwindling

ST. LOUIS - The nation's Heartland is ridding itself of the scourge 
of homemade methamphetamine, with lab seizures down by nearly half in 
many high-meth states. Any celebration is muted: Meth use remains 
high, but people are increasingly turning to cheaper, imported 
Mexican meth rather than making their own.

Meth-lab busts and seizures are down 40 percent or more in states 
that traditionally lead the country in the undesirable category, 
narcotics experts told The Associated Press.

Enforcement actions and stricter laws are partly responsible, but the 
meth now coming through Mexican cartel pipelines is so cheap and pure 
that it is supplanting meth made in homes or soda bottles inside 
cars. The cartels have even expanded their meth reach to rural areas 
and small towns.

"The great news is that meth from Mexico doesn't explode, doesn't 
burn down your house and your neighbor's home, doesn't contaminate 
your property, doesn't kill children the way meth labs have done here 
in the U.S. for decades," said Jason Grellner, the chief narcotics 
officer in Franklin County, Mo.

Meth-lab seizures peaked nationally in 2004, when nearly 24,000 labs 
were seized. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reported 
11,573 seizures last year (the most recent available), up 363 from 2012.

Grellner's county has often topped 100 meth-lab seizures in a year, 
but have only had about a dozen this year. Statistics provided by the 
Missouri State Highway Patrol show 558 meth-lab seizures occurred 
statewide for the first six months of 2014, putting Missouri on pace 
for 1,116. That would be a 34 percent drop from the 1,496 meth-lab 
seizures in 2013, and only a little over half in 2012.

The decline is more pronounced in other high-meth states.

In Tennessee, lab seizures are down 40 percent this year, said Tommy 
Farmer, director of the Tennessee Meth and Pharmaceutical Task Force. 
Oklahoma had 160 meth-lab seizures through September and is on pace 
for 213 - about half last year's seizure total, Oklahoma Bureau of 
Narcotics spokesman Mark Woodward said.

One only needs to go to the morgue to know that, despite fewer lab 
busts, the meth problem isn't going away.

In Oklahoma, which tracks meth-related deaths, 167 died of meth 
overdoses last year - up from 140 in 2012 and 108 in 2011, Woodward 
said. Figures for 2014 weren't available.

"I don't think meth use has ever been higher in the state of 
Oklahoma," he said.

The Mexican cartels have long controlled the market for illegal drugs 
such as cocaine and heroin. Meth was trickier. For years, many U.S. 
users have chosen to make their own, first in homemade labs that 
often caught fire or ruined houses.

The DEA's website lists thousands of homes contaminated by meth.

When federal and state lawmakers began implementing laws limiting the 
sale of key meth ingredient pseudoephedrine in the mid-2000s, it 
became difficult to obtain enough for large batches. Users turned to 
"one-pot" or "shake-and-bake" methods - mixing a couple of cold pills 
with household chemicals such as lighter fluid or drain cleaner in a 
2-liter soda bottle.

Meanwhile, Mexican cartels have upped their methmaking, turning to an 
old recipe known as P2P that first appeared in the 1960s and 1970s. 
It uses the organic compound phenylacetone - banned in the U.S. but 
obtainable in Mexico, according to the DEA - rather than pseudoephedrine.

Chemists in Mexico have refined the process to the point where the 
meth is both potent and cheap. The purity of Mexican meth increased 
from 39 percent in 2007 to essentially 100 percent today, said Jim 
Shroba, special agent in charge for the DEA's St. Louis office. The 
price over that same period has fallen sharply, from $290 per pure 
gram to around $100 per pure gram.

Marijuana is by far the most seized drug in the United States, with 
DEA statistics showing 268,000 kilograms seized in 2013. That 
compares to 22,500 kilograms of cocaine, 3,990 kilograms of meth and 
965 kilograms of heroin.

Shroba and other experts say there are other reasons, too, why meth 
seizures are down. Two states - Oregon and Mississippi - now require 
a prescription to buy pills containing pseudoephedrine. And federal 
law requires strict monitoring and limits on pseudoephedrine purchases.

At first, the Mexican meth was aimed mainly at big cities and 
suburbs. Indiana's meth-suppression commander Niki Crawford said it 
is increasingly showing up in her state's midsize cities - 
Evansville, Terre Haute and Kokomo.

The imported drug has even reached rural areas. Woodward cited recent 
large-scale busts of distribution rings in communities like Lindsay 
(population 3,000) and Okmulgee (population 12,000). And Shroba said 
huge seizures of Mexican meth have occurred in rural areas of western 
Nebraska and Iowa.

Woodward said the reduction in meth labs has "wonderful collateral 
benefits," meaning narcotics officers can turn attention to stopping 
trafficking.

"We all know that if we get a handle on meth labs, we will still have 
meth addicts who will work very hard to get their drug," Crawford 
said. "This is where the Mexican cartel meth will fill the void."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom