AUTHORITIES BAND TOGETHER TO FIGHT METH

Dorchester County sheriff's Sgt. Mike Miller was handing out fliers
about an upcoming seminar on methamphetamine when an employee of a
Summerville grocery store asked him why people were shoplifting
lithium batteries.

She didn't know lithium batteries are commonly used to make meth, but
her lack of knowledge isn't unusual. Miller said too many people he's
talked to on the street don't know much about the drug that shows no
sign of slowing in popularity.

Most of the meth labs found in the Charleston area have been in
Berkeley and Dorchester counties. The Dorchester County Sheriff's
Office has investigated at least 14 labs this year. Last year's total
was 24. Berkeley County narcotics agents found 30 labs last year and
have investigated 15 so far this year, Capt. Whilden Baggett said.

Miller and Baggett expect both counties to at least match last year's
numbers. Both say the public plays a vital role in tracking down the
makeshift labs, which Baggett said have been found "just about
anywhere you can think -- homes, subdivisions, trailer parks,
apartment buildings, barns, cars."

Miller hopes for a good turnout of retailers and residents at an
upcoming seminar that will include a display of a mock meth lab and
information on the history of the drug and its impact on communities.
It is hosted by sheriff's offices in Berkeley, Dorchester,
Charleston, Orangeburg and Calhoun counties and the 1st and 9th
Circuit solicitors. The sheriffs and solicitors also will sign a
declaration proclaiming a war on meth at 1 p.m. Friday in the front
parking lot of Trident Medical Center in North Charleston. It calls
on the public to help law enforcement apprehend people engaged in the
meth trade.

Baggett said agents get a lot of tips from the community.

"We have people call and report strange behavior in the neighborhood,
people staying up all hours of the night, people coming and going
constantly," he said.

"We can't do it without the public's help. We need to have those
tips. We need to have our neighbors knowing what's going on next
door," Miller said.