METH LABS PRESENT GROWING PROBLEM

Narcotics Officials Say Manufacturers Difficult To Locate In Rural Areas

COLUMBUS -- Although marijuana and cocaine are still problems, the
growing prevalence of methamphetamine presents difficult challenges
to narcotics officers, Lowndes County law enforcement officials say.

"Marijuana is still the most popularly used drug, and cocaine is
still common, but the big problem now is meth," said Tammy Prescott,
public relations specialist with the Lowndes County Sheriff's
Department. "Two years ago, Lowndes County had the most meth labs in
the state of Mississippi, but we took them down and ran a lot of them off."

"Now they're coming back with new methods of manufacturing it."
Prescott and Joey Brackin, who heads the narcotics unit for the
Lowndes County Sheriff's Department, discussed the dangers and
prevalence of crystal meth during a recent presentation to a civic group here.

The two said the easy-to-find ingredients, small amount of space
needed for a lab and relatively low effort required to produce
methamphetamine make manufacturers very difficult to locate.

"We used to see stationary labs, but not anymore," Prescott said.
"People can have these labs in their cars, so you and your family
might even be unlucky enough to see meth labs exploding on the highway."

Brackin agreed.

"Nobody hardly stays in one place anymore. Some of them even dump
their trash in random places off the road somewhere so there won't be
any evidence around their property," Brackin said.

The rural setting of many meth labs adds to the complexity of solving
the local meth problem.

"Most of this methamphetamine activity goes on in the rural areas,"
Brackin said. "The rural setting makes matters more difficult for a
narcotics agents. These communities are tight knit and tight lipped."

Manufacturing the drug requires mixing and cooking chemicals that can
be found in household cleaning products such as drain cleaner, garden
spray and car starter fluid. When the lab is improperly maintained or
ingredients improperly mixed, intense explosions and fires will occur.

Brackin said meth lab fires usually burn so hot that often not even
enough evidence can be found to prove a lab existed in a building.

Brackin also believes a new law restricting the over-the-counter
purchase of Sudafed and other cold medicines used in meth manufacture
will lead to more burglaries.

"That law might help me some, but they're still going to try to get
it,"Brackin said . "Users and manufacturers will have to get that
stuff in large quantities, and they will probably start trying to
burglarize stores and pharmacies in search of what they need since
they can't just go out and buy it anymore."

Manufacture of methamphetamine carries a maximum 20-year prison
sentence. Possession of methamphetamine carries a maximum five-year
prison sentence.