METH BUST TARGETS RETAILERS

49 arrested in sales violations

Dalton --- Seeking to dampen a "gray market" in which convenience store
operators knowingly sell products that will be used to make methamphetamine,
federal and state agents Friday arrested 49 people at 25 stores in northwest
Georgia.

"There is no silver bullet to eliminate the meth trade," DEA agent Sherri
Strange said. "This is one more way we can reduce the supply of this drug,
which is becoming a crisis in Georgia."

The arrests in six counties are intended to send a message to other store
owners who may be providing raw materials to produce the illegal and highly
addictive drug, U.S. Attorney David Nahmias said. The arrests Friday were
based on sealed indictments made May 7.

Some of the suspects had even set up "meth-making sections" of products in
their stores, Nahmias said.

In April, Gov. Sonny Perdue signed into law House Bill 216, which requires
that Sudafed and similar cold and sinus drugs with the sole active
ingredient of pseudoephedrine, used to make meth, be sold only from behind
store counters.

The law, which goes into effect July 1, also bars retailers from selling
more than three packages of the medicines at once.

Retailers also will be encouraged to participate in the Georgia Meth Watch
Program to spot suspicious customers and to raise awareness about the
dangers of meth.

None of the stores raided Friday were owned or operated by national chains.
Businesses in the investigation ranged from small groceries or delis to
tobacco shops.

"We're overwhelmed in northwest Georgia by the meth trade, and it's
spreading to the rest of Georgia," said Nahmias, joined by a group of
sheriffs and police chiefs during a news conference Friday at the Whitfield
County Sheriff's office.

"Hopefully, this action and news of it will get the message out and make
some people realize that they may end up in the slammer for a long time."

In the course of the investigation, which Nahmias said began in January 2004
after complaints from the public, informants went to stores and told clerks
or owners that the items they were buying would be used to make meth. The
ingredients purchased included pseudoephedrine, ephedrine, camping fuel and
antifreeze.

One of the people indicted told an informant that her husband was in jail
for cooking methamphetamine and that she wanted some of the meth when the
informant was done preparing it, a law enforcement affidavit said.

Tonya Layman, 32, of Trenton, in Dade County, then allegedly sold the
informant seven bottles of pseudoephedrine and seven tab boxes of nasal
decongestant that contains pseudoephedrine, among other drugs.

More than 200 federal and state agents, including officers from the Internal
Revenue Service and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, took part in the
raids Friday, Nahmias said. Those arrested face possible maximum sentences
of 20 years for knowingly selling materials used to make meth and the
possible seizure of their assets.

Some of those arrested are believed to be in the country illegally and
others may have temporary resident status that could be revoked if they are
convicted, Nahmias said.

The government said in a statement accompanying the indictments, which were
returned May 7 but sealed until Friday, that because of the increase of meth
manufacturing in eastern Tennessee, northwest Georgia and northeast Alabama,
a ''gray market'' has developed.

The investigation focused on convenience stores in Catoosa, Chattooga,
Floyd, Whitfield, Walker and Dade counties.

Thirteen of the 15 informants the government used have been charged with
crimes, convicted of crimes or have pending charges against them. Some of
the charges against them were for drug offenses, including meth possession,
the affidavit said.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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