ANTI-GANG EFFORT 'A MODEL'; METH LABS HARDER TO FIGHT

LANCASTER - Drug agents sniff out about one of every 10 of the illegal,
clandestine methamphetamine labs hidden in the vast Mojave Desert.

With about 60 meth labs being discovered each year, that means about 540
remain in operation, cranking out the white powder that so many users crave.

Those startling statistics were revealed by Sgt. Tony Hollins of the
Lancaster Sheriff's Station, who heads the multi-jurisdictional North
County Clandestine Lab Task Force, and Tom Embree, special agent for the
state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement.

Embree and Hollins revealed the information during Thursday night's city of
Lancaster Public Safety Committee Forum at City Hall.

Embree said part of the problem in discovering the illegal manufacturing
labs is their location - outlying rural communities.

"They (meth producers) like rural areas," Embree said. "There are fewer
people to detect that. It's harder to detect that."

"We are doing 60 labs a year," he said. "We obviously are not getting all
of them."

The task force finds about one of every 10 labs operating in the Antelope
Valley, but that number is an educated guess, he said.

Embree said the task force still discovers meth labs within city limits,
but noted that bigger labs are normally found in rural communities, such as
in and around Lake Los Angeles and Pearblossom.

The task force in the Antelope Valley was formed July 1, 1998, after the
state determined there was a need. In the intervening 28 months, narcotics
officers have found 135 meth labs.

"It's a pretty dirty, dangerous situation," Hollins said, adding that many
lab operators are exposing young children to the dangerous drug.

The labs themselves are fire hazards because of the drugs used in the
poisonous manufacturing process. One in six labs discovered in Los Angeles
County is found because it catches fire or explodes, according to Los
Angeles County Sheriff's Department statistics.

One of the chemicals used in the process, red phosphorus, is the same
chemical used to make match heads, which can ignite from friction.

Meth makers, or "cooks," also need the stimulant ephedrine, and they obtain
it by extracting it from over-the-counter cold and sinus medications such
as Sudafed.

A byproduct of the meth-cooking process is a toxic red sludge with fumes
that burn the lungs if inhaled. If the substance comes in contact with the
eyes, it can cause blindness.

The finished product, methamphetamine, is known on the street as "crank" or
"speed." It can be inhaled, swallowed, injected or smoked and is highly
addictive. Damage from long-term use can include severe psychological side
effects.

To find these hidden, illegal operations, Hollins said, the task force must
rely on the smell.

"It's odors, and that's how they are detected," he said of an odor that can
be detected one to two miles away, depending on the wind.

Lancaster City Council Vice Mayor Henry Hearns, who chaired the forum,
wanted to know what community members can do to help narcotics officers.

"If you see a lot of traffic, in and out traffic, that is when yon need to
talk to the narcotic units," Hollins said. "A (call about) suspicious drug
activity is very valuable to us."

Also on hand at the Public Safety Community Forum was Lancaster sheriff's
Deputy Dan Wolanski and Janice Jones of the Los Angeles County Probation
Department.

Wolanski and Jones are part of a nine-member anti-gang team that was funded
by a three-year $1.5 million Gang Violence Suppression Grant from the
state, according to Lancaster Assistant City Manager Dennis Davenport.

In 1998, the city came up with 40% matching funds to start the program. In
1999, the match decreased to 30%, and in 2000, it dropped to 20%.

"They have come together and kicked butt," Davenport said of the gang team.
During the first year of the grant, gang activity decreased in Lancaster by
77%, Davenport said.

"The money is well-spent. This is a model program," he said.

The grant will help take the city's Men In Black Operation one step further
- - working at the prevention end of the system rather than just netting
criminals after they have committed a crime.

Men In Black was a team of 360 law enforcement officers who served arrest
warrants on dozens of Antelope Valley locations, arresting individuals who
allegedly sold drugs and stolen goods. The sales were made to PK & S, a
small business that opened about six months prior to the sting.

The company's employees boasted that they would buy anything. The catch:
The employees of PK & S were undercover sheriff's deputies.

Wolanski said the statistics from the program show its success.

In 1998-99, 790 incidents of gang activity led to 474 arrests. In
1999-2000, 660 incidents and 557 arrests occurred.

According to Wolanski, the Valley is home to approximately 4,000 gang
members - about 2,800 in Lancaster and about 1,200 in Palmdale.

Jones said one advantage to the program is vertical prosecution, where one
prosecutor handles a case from beginning to end.

"The courts up here take gang activity very seriously," Jones said, with
little room granted for plea bargaining.

"Activity has definitely slowed down," she said. "We don't have as much to
deal with."

However, Wolanski said, because gang members have become familiar with
those working on the sheriff's gang team, their job has become more difficult.

"We know who the gang members are, and they know who we are," he said.

Because of the gang team, newer gang members in the Valley now try to hide
their gang affiliations.

But just as in the L.A. basin, gangs of every variety have migrated to the
Valley, Wolanski said, adding that Crips and Bloods are just two of the
many gangs roaming Valley streets.

"They bring the problem up here," he said.

Wolanski added that gang members are responsible for committing a variety
of crimes, some which are minor.

Hearns disagreed, stating there are no minor crimes.

"Any gang member as far as I am concerned is a problem," he said.

Unlike Los Angeles, Wolanski said, gangs here have not staked out
territories, so drive-by shootings are rare.

Jones and Wolanski said the public can help battle gangs in the community
by reporting what they know and what they see.

"Every call I receive I act upon," Jones said.

Hearns added that parents need to get involved with their children.

"What I am finding out from kids is they just need somebody to be with," he
said. "If we can get the message out to the parents that will change a lot
of things."