TANK RAIDERS HAVE METH IN MIND

Three Arrests This Month Under Newly-Passed Law

Tanks of farm fertilizer in rural Dakota County have been the target of
suspected methamphetamine makers this month, leading to three arrests and a
smattering of attempted theft reports.

A 29-year-old Hastings man with a history of burglary and drug arrests was
charged last week with tampering with anhydrous ammonia at a farmer's
cooperative in Hampton Township, about 30 miles south of the Twin Cities. A
state law adopted last August made it a felony to steal, tamper with or
improperly transport anhydrous ammonia, a common fertilizer and an
ingredient in the powerful stimulant methamphetamine.

Regie L. Patnode, Jr., was the third person in a month to be charged in
Dakota County under the new law. If convicted, he and the others face up to
five years in prison and a $50,000 fine.

More than 100 meth labs were seized in Minnesota last year -- about
two-thirds of them in rural counties where there can be easy access to
anhydrous ammonia, said Carol Falkowski, research analyst at Hazelden, a
Minnesota drug-treatment facility. Falkowski said Minnesota was one of the
first states to make mishandling the substance a felony.

"It's really volatile, really dangerous and it causes lots of injury," she
said. "Hopefully, this law is going to be a good prosecutorial tool."

Dakota County deputies found Patnode hiding under a pine tree in below-zero
weather after tracking his footprints from the tanks, according to a Dakota
County criminal complaint. The officers had seen Patnode's girlfriend's car
parked directly across from the tanks, but she drove away. Along the route
taken by Patnode, deputies found a hose, a pitcher and a pink liquid in the
snow. He told police he intended to sell or trade the substance, the
complaint says.

Patnode comes from a family with a record of meth-related arrests.
Patnode's sister, 31-year-old Shawn R. Patnode, and her boyfriend were
arrested Jan. 30 after a meth lab on their balcony caused a fire at a West
St. Paul apartment building. His father, Regie Patnode, Sr., is currently
serving a meth-related prison sentence.

Robert Marhoun, 39, of St. Paul, and Shane Julius, 30, of Cottage Grove
were charged Feb. 1 with tampering with anhydrous ammonia after the two men
accepted a ride with a Dakota County deputy who noticed that the pair gave
off an odd chemical smell.

The deputy had picked the men up near the Hampton Township farmer's co-op,
where investigators found footprints, a hacksaw, a fire extinguisher and a
rubber hose near a tank of anhydrous ammonia.

Dakota County Sheriff Don Gudmundson said information provided by Marhoun
and Julius later helped in the seizure of a St. Paul meth lab. Gudmundson
said he has received several other reports of thefts from anhydrous ammonia
tanks.

"This has been an ongoing issue," said Lani Jordan, spokeswoman for CHS
Cooperatives, an Inver Grove Heights-based distributor of anhydrous
ammonia. "We're aware that it's a problem and we're working with
authorities to apprehend people responsible for the thefts."

In 1998, The Fertilizer Institute -- a national trade organization for
distributors -- created a task force that is looking into additives to make
their products undesirable to meth makers. The organization is also
launching a campaign to promote awareness among farmers and fertilizer dealers.

"We are outraged that our product -- which is intended to be used to grow
food -- is being used for this illegal and destructive purpose," read a
posting on the institute's Web site (www.tfi.org).