CHRISTIAN COUNTY SEES RISE IN METHAMPHETAMINE ARRESTS

Officials aren't ready to call a recent spate of arrests in Christian
County for suspected methamphetamine production a trend, but allowed that
there may be more there than elsewhere.

"The observation is valid that there have been several (meth arrests) in
the Christian county area in the past few months," said Illinois State
Police Lt. Kent Hill Tuesday night.

"I don't have any exact numbers on hand, but within our district, Christian
County seems to have a large percent."

Hill's comments came on the heels of the latest raid, a search warrant
executed on a Pana residence at 8 a.m. Tuesday that resulted in one arrest.
More are possible, authorities said.

An occupant of the residence, David Reatherford, 37, faces possible charges
of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, a felony
punishable by four to 15 years in prison.

Pana police and members of the Central Illinois Enforcement Group seized
approximately 5 grams of suspected powder meth, $977 in cash, various drug
paraphernalia and "substances typically used in the production of
methamphetamine."

An informal check of State Journal-Register files turned up at least four
raids of meth labs in Christian County in 1999 - three in Pana and one in
Taylorville. A higher than average number of arrests also has occurred in
Mason and Menard counties, Hill said.

Hill was unable to name any one reason for the apparent prevalence of meth
labs in Christian County, but speculated on one or two possibilities.

One potential reason is simplicity. "Bathtub" meth labs, as Hill termed
them, are small and easily portable, he said.

Then there are the agents themselves - many raids result from thorough
exploitation of local contacts.

"Associates have shared information in setting up these labs, and it can
look like a trend sometimes," he said. "That's not to say there aren't just
as many labs in the Springfield area and you don't hear of them as often."

Still, as illegal substances go, meth tends to be more of a rural drug than
an urban one. Addicts in cities have access to a wider variety of drugs,
Hill said, while in the country they'll resort to using their own product.

Meth, also called "crank," "speed" or "ice," is made from common,
over-the-counter products like cold medicines or cleaners. Another
ingredient is easily accessible in rural areas - anhydrous ammonia, a
common fertilizer often stored in unattended farm tanks.

"Quite often, we'll hear of thefts from tanks in fields," Hill said.

"People will drill holes or open valves and empty a quantity of ammonia
into containers. Those come in every now and then, and it's a fairly good
indication that somewhere in the area, somebody's cooking up some meth."