MEIGS' BATTLE WITH METH LABS "AIN'T LETTING UP"

DECATUR - Possibly because of nothing more than its geographical location,
Meigs County was inundated with methamphetamine activity about two years
ago as production of the drug surged across the state from the west.

Sheriff Walter Hickman said there's been no slowdown yet. Meigs County,
along with other counties in the Ninth Judicial District, has been one of
the most active counties in the state in methamphetamine production
enforcement. The battle still rages week to week, said Hickman.

"It ain't letting up. I don't see an increase, but it's not declining
either," Hickman said. "We're averaging about one a week and it seems to be
holding."

During the summer of 2000, authorities west of here began warning
methamphetamine was said to have made its way to Meigs County, he said.

The meth war began in Meigs County just a couple of weeks after McMinn
County busted its first suspected lab, according to Hickman.

"Our first seizure of a lab - it wasn't in operation - was on Aug. 18,
2000," Hickman recalled. "It was located on Highway 68 near the Watts Bar Dam."

First contact with a meth lab was made by Meigs County Sheriff's Chief
Deputy Mike Ervin when he answered what he expected to be a routine
"disturbance call."

Ervin arrived at the home around 6:30 a.m. that day and discovered what he
believed was evidence of a possible meth lab.

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Brian Freeman was contacted
along with Ninth Judicial District Drug Task Force Director Sam West for
help with the investigation.

Officers found what they identified as meth lab components in an
outbuilding and inside a car on the property.

In 2000, Hickman said state authorities described the setup as a "typical
lab for this part of the country."

Officers also seized about one ounce of finished product.

Tuesday, Hickman said that lab began what he described as a meth epidemic,
and law enforcement has been racing to keep up ever since.

No arrests were made during the initial investigation into the first lab,
but the continuing investigation that followed until March 2001 resulted in
10 federal indictments, nine of which soon became federal convictions
either by plea or trial.

Hickman said the nine convicted in federal court are still serving their
sentences.

Hickman said Meigs' first meth cases were all handled by federal authorities.

He said his department then began making arrests in connection with
suspected lab found.

"Later on, we indicted four more Meigs County guys in federal court," he
said. "But since then, we've been indicting them in state court due to the
fact that federal court is swamped with so many cases."

Hickman said meth cases were straining local courts, leading them to
lengthen their investigations and focus on Criminal Court indictments
rather than charges in General Sessions Court.

"Right now, we're taking the majority of the cases to the Grand Jury,"
Hickman said. "That keeps things from bottlenecking in General Sessions Court."

The cost to the Sheriff's Department has been in overtime hours and sweat.

Hickman said the meth epidemic has greatly increased the workload.

He said each lab raid ties up four or five officers for hours at a time.
"It's taking away from a lot of law enforcement duties that we need to be
attending to," Hickman said. "If kids are involved, DCS has to come in, and
officers have to stay to be with them."

Hickman said the most recent meth raid and lab discovery had to be cleaned
up by a hazardous materials team from Nashville.

"The officers had to wait for them and that's more overtime for the
officers," he said.

The Southeast Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force, which was the recipient
of federal funding aimed at attacking meth production in the region, has
helped the Sheriff's Department with funding to aid costs associated with
meth-related law enforcement.

Hickman said the effect of the meth problem has really put pressure on his
department's one meth officer.

"Right now, we're overloading our one certified officer," he said. "I hope
we can get another officer certified, at least."

Hickman said he hoped to lighten the load on meth-certified Deputy Jimmy Ervin.

"We're going to try to get three or four officers in the training program
the Task Force is holding in Chattanooga in September," he said. Some
deputies already have considerable experience working with Ervin on
methamphetamine investigations conducted over the past two years and those
same officers could be the ones sent to school. He said that experience
should help with their work toward certification.

But larger, better-trained departments won't solve the problem of meth,
Hickman said.

"I think we're going to have to have education, more enforcement, more
funding and different penalties, as far as the Legislature," he said. "It's
a major problem. It's something we're going to have to deal with as a
society; it can't be all law enforcement. It's going to take help from the
community."

Hickman said a successful war against meth will take a combination of
efforts on part of law enforcement, courts and the state Legislature. An
educated populace will probably have the most immediate effect, he said.
"Another thing is there's so much danger in it, we get a lot more help from
the citizens who are worried about it," he said. "Residents recognize the
danger of it. It's a safety issue.

"Although a lot of them don't like to get involved, I see a lot more
cooperation out of the citizens. The public is concerned because of the
safety issue. I don't think people are getting complacent about it. The
concern is there," said Hickman. "It seems like the people here might even
be more concerned."

The concern is not ill-founded.

Just last week, one of the Sheriff's Department's deputies had to be taken
to the hospital for treatment after inhaling some noxious fumes, according
to Hickman.

Hickman said educating the public would make great strides toward stemming
the popularity of the drug and proliferation of meth labs in every
community. .

NEXT: What signs retailers and residents should look for in suspected meth
operations. .