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Meth in the News
Shortly after midnight on June 7, 2003, a thief escaped with a small quantity of anhydrous ammonia from a farm-supply company in Atlanta, Mo. That was not big news; anhydrous theft occurs with numbing frequency in parts of rural America. But this particular thief left the nurse-tank valve open, and a cloud of anhydrous formed and floated over U.S. Hwy. 63.
The drivers of two tractor-trailer trucks drove into the cloud, were overcome and jerked to a halt in the middle of the road. A car carrying two young women didn't see the trucks until it was too late and plowed into them. Up the road, a family of four also was overcome by the cloud of anhydrous. Their car ran off the road and smashed into an embankment.
No one was killed in the Atlanta accidents, but there were several serious injuries, including a Highway Patrol officer and two emergency responders who breathed toxic fumes at the rescue scenes. Authorities are still trying to find the thief.
But they have their work cut out for them. Anhydrous thieves are as thick as mosquitoes after dark across large sections of the Midwest and Southwest, and they are spreading into the Mid-South and Southeast.
Thieves steal anhydrous because it is a key ingredient for making the illegal drug methamphetamine, which is known simply as meth. They sneak a gallon or two of anhydrous to a makeshift lab, often in the countryside, and use it to brew up enough of the potent drug to sell or to maintain their own drug habits. Then they dismantle their lab and are gone.
The thrills are high and the profits are higher for these clandestine labs. That's why the meth industry is exploding in rural areas.
"Meth has become the most dangerous drug problem in small-town America," notes a federal Drug Enforcement Administration report.
Last year, authorities in Missouri seized more than 2,700 "tabletop" meth labs, many in rural areas close to ready supplies of anhydrous. Missouri's meth-lab numbers are the highest in the country, but neighboring states also have growing meth problems. For instance, in only six Oklahoma counties law officers busted 1,200 meth labs in 2001. And in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia, a drug task force reports that the three states "are experiencing a dramatic escalation in the methamphetamine threat," as meth-lab confiscations tripled between 2000 and 2001. Reports from Ohio, Alabama and Georgia also indicate that meth production is on the rise, largely in rural areas of those states.
Why should you care?
Meth-related accidents like the one in Missouri are occurring more often. Three years ago, for instance, a similarly careless thief caused an anhydrous leak that led to the evacuation of much of the town of Pleasant Hill, Mo.Rural meth labs pose other dangers too. Some of the chemicals they require are toxic, highly flammable and explosive. Put those chemicals in the hands of drug-addled "technicians," and it's easy to understand why meth-lab explosions happen so frequently. And when those same technicians surreptitiously dispose of the leftover chemicals, they often just pitch them anywhere, including drainage ditches and water supplies.
It gets worse. Meth users are not the most stable members of our society; they often become paranoid or psychotic and they are often armed-another formula for danger. "Drug users like these can be violent," says Shirley Armstrong of the DEA's St. Louis office.
Agents Make Biggest Meth Bust This Year
By Gene Haagenson11/24/06 (KFSN) -- After a month of surveillance, agents of the methamphetamine task force moved in Friday night, seizing a super lab, and arresting two men. The bust happened inside a farmhouse on Floyd Avenue near Clinton in western Fresno County.
Agents think a farmworker bunkhouse west of Fresno has been operating undetected as a meth factory for at least three years.
"Boy, when you cook in a grape vineyard, in a basement at three in the morning, it gets hard to find you," said Robert Pennel of the State Bureau of Narcotics.
Agents believe the meth being produced here was destined for markets in the Midwest, the Northwest and Hawaii. Two suspects, both Mexican nationals were arrested, as they were about to cook another batch.
"When we went inside they already had different pieces of equipment set up and were ready to make another cook," Pennel said.
Pennel estimates each cook produced $500,000 worth of methamphetamine. Stopping meth production was a campaign priority for Fresno County's newly elected sheriff.
"The number one issue facing Fresno County law enforcement today is the devastating effect of methamphetamine. Meth is a societal weapon of mass destruction," said Fresno County Sheriff elect Margaret Mims.
Mims is not alone. A recent survey show's a majority of sheriff's nationwide list meth as their county's number one drug problem. Meth is also a big contributor to jail overcrowding. It's estimated one in five inmates is locked up for a crime related to meth use.
Despite a nationwide television campaign against meth. It seems to be growing.
The number of meth lab busts has dropped dramatically in recent years as much of the production has moved to Mexico. But it's still a relatively big problem in the Valley. Of the more than 200 busts in California over the past year, 160 have occurred in the Central Valley.
Meth bust at day care
Cops want to crack down on people who make drugs near kids.
BROOMFIELD - Police have made a meth arrest at a home used for day care.
Jerry Aaron Robinson, 27, was arrested Wednesday at a Broomfield home where his mother cares for five children. Police found items in Robinson's room used to manufacture methamphetamine.
Police cite the bust as an example of why the state must clamp down on people who manufacture dangerous drugs around kids.
Robinson faces third-degree felony drug charges carrying a jail term of four to 16 years.
If a bill being considered in the legislature had been law, Robinson also would face felony child-abuse charges, carrying another four-to- 16-year term.
That bill, HB 1004, passed out of the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday. It now goes to the full House.
Broomfield police Sgt. Dan Schuler said kids are at risk in an area where methamphetamine is made.
"When they combine the various chemicals, it becomes a very toxic vapor, and it permeates into the carpet, the furniture, and it's just very dangerous," Schuler said. "And the problem is, they don't know what the long-range effects are going to be on these kids."
The chemicals are also highly flammable.
Robinson faces an additional charge of failing to register as a sex offender. He was convicted of a 1996 sexual assault.
He was not under an order to remain away from children, however,Schuler said.
Robinson's mother cared for five children in the home where the arrest occurred. They are all relatives, including grandchildren.
The woman was not arrested.
A 1-year-old child was sent to Children's Hospital for observation. The other children, aged 6 to 8, were given to their parents.
Under a bill signed into law Monday by Gov. Bill Owens, county social services would be required to remove children from homes where drug crimes were taking place. The bill does not take effect until July 1.
That bill is needed to let social workers know that children must be removed from such homes, said Rep. Cheri Jahn, D-Wheat Ridge.
"It absolutely says you will get them out of there," Jahn said.
WASHINGTON — When police visited an assisted-living facility near Pittsburgh they found employees cooking more than just the evening meal — authorities seized a lab used to make methamphetamine. Police also made two of the more than 400 arrests that were part of the first nationally coordinated operation aimed at producers and sellers of the highly addictive drug. Authorities announced Tuesday the results of Operation Wildfire, a cooperative effort among police in more than 200 cities and the Drug Enforcement Administration. More than 200 pounds of the drug and 56 labs were seized. Eight counties in rural western North Carolina accounted for 70 of the 427 arrests made nationwide. Two elderly residents of the assisted-living facility in Donora, Pa., had to be hospitalized for exposure to toxic chemicals from the meth lab, DEA administrator Karen Tandy said. In Minneapolis, drug agents and police seized a lab in a hotel that is across the street from an elementary school, Tandy said. "It's homemade, cheap and readily available," Tandy said, noting that after starting in the West, meth has been found in every state. Authorities also took custody of 30 children, including two in Missouri who were living in a bug-infested home where meth was being produced, she said. The arrests followed intense criticism from members of Congress and local law enforcement that the federal government is not doing enough to combat the use of methamphetamine. More than half the 500 sheriffs in a recent survey called meth their top problem, far surpassing cocaine and marijuana. Local officials applauded the results announced Tuesday, calling them good first steps. But the administration has proposed eliminating $804 million in grants to local authorities for drug-fighting efforts, said Joe Dunn, assistant legislative director for the National Association of Counties. "We'd like them to reverse that decision," Dunn said, noting that Congress appears likely to restore at least $400 million. Methamphetamine, which can come in the form of a crystal-like powder or rocklike chunks, is an addictive stimulant that can be smoked, snorted, injected or taken orally. Its street names include "ice," "crystal," "speed" and "tina." Meth can be made using ingredients in over-the-counter cold medicines, prompting a dozen states to pass laws forcing stores to remove medicines containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine from shelves. At least 12 million people have tried meth, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Authorities have dismantled more than 50,000 clandestine meth labs since 2001. Far more people use marijuana, but Alberto Gonzales, an Attorney General recently said that meth has overtaken marijuana as the greatest danger to children. Gonzales has led an administration-wide effort to respond to those who say that the meth problem was being ignored until recently. Tandy and McGregor Scott, the U.S. attorney in Sacremento, Calif., recited lengthy lists of law enforcement actions and prosecutions aimed at meth. Gonzales said he spoke Monday with his Mexican counterpart, Daniel Cabeza de Vaca, about finding ways to stem the movement of meth from Mexican labs to the United States. The government estimates that roughly two-thirds of the meth in the United States comes from Mexico. U.S. officials also are working with Mexicans to try to control shipments from other countries of pseudoephedrine and other raw materials used in meth, Tandy said, The DEA also unveiled an anti-meth Web site aimed at teens, www.justthinktwice.com. The Bush administration earlier this month announced a training laboratory for police agencies and $16.2 million in grants to focus on treatment of meth addicts.
3 Arrested In Huge Sonoma County Meth Bust
Three Sonoma County residents are facing charges after what's being called one of the biggest meth busts in the Bay Area in at least three years.
Authorities say during a raid on a trucking company in Cotati, drug agents seized 29 pounds of methamphetamine valued at $1.3 million.
A spokesman for the DEA says the raid Tuesday night at Discovery Transportation came after an investigation involving the DEA, the FBI and Sonoma County narcotics agents.
Two men arrested as part of the investigation are being held without bail.