GA METH BUST LARGEST IN EAST

Officials seize 174 pounds of 'ice'

Another month, another meth mother lode.

On Wednesday, federal authorities announced the seizure of 174 pounds of the
highly potent crystal methamphetamine in Lawrenceville. It was the largest
seizure of crystal meth, or "ice," on the East Coast - and the nation's
15th-largest. And authorities say it points to another facet in the drug
problem exploding across metro Atlanta.

"The Atlanta area is seeing an onslaught of Mexican methamphetamine or more
specifically in its more addictive form, ice," said Sherri Strange,
Atlanta's top Drug Enforcement Administration agent. "I can't emphasize how
dangerous ice is."

U.S. Attorney David Nahmias referred the constant flow of meth imported from
Mexico to the area as "a rising tide in Georgia that is threatening to
become a tidal wave that will overwhelm us." He said the growing number of
large busts is frightening.

In December, authorities seized 20 pounds of meth and 28 pounds of cocaine
in what they called one of the largest drug busts in Cherokee County
history.

In January, authorities seized 125 pounds of crystal meth in a parking lot
in DeKalb County. The bust at the time was called the largest such seizure
in the Southeast.

And last month, agents discovered a meth "super lab" in the basement of a
Smyrna ranch home capable of cranking out 10 pounds of ice a day.

The large busts indicate a migration of meth "super labs" from the West
Coast, said Catherine O'Neil, who heads the Justice Department's Organized
Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force in Washington.

The major trafficking organizations, which are predominantly operated by
Mexican nationals, "realize they can make huge profits [in the Southeast],"
she said. The added enforcement in the West "has squeezed the balloon and
moved it East."

She termed the increasing meth busts as a "chicken or the egg thing. You
find more because you're looking for it or you find more because there's
more."

Victoriano Vega Jiminez, 42, was arrested Monday night and charged with
possession with intent to distribute meth, authorities said.

Agents followed Vega Jiminez as he delivered five pounds of ice to a home in
Duluth, authorities said. A search of his car revealed an "extensive" ledger
of suspected drug deals. A later search of three homes owned by him revealed
169 pounds of the crystal meth, close to $1 million in cash and weapons.

Typically methamphetamine comes in a white powder form or in clear crystals.
Users of the drug can inject, snort or smoke it.

The high lasts longer than cocaine and meth users are known to exhibit signs
of paranoia.

"You're not only getting it in large seizures, we've seen it in the
increased treatment admissions [to hospitals] in the last few years," said
Adam Gelb of the Georgia Council Substance Abuse, a nonprofit advocacy
group.

Gelb pointed to federal figures that show admissions to Georgia hospitals
for amphetamine (mostly meth) abuse quadrupled to 2,793 in the years 2000 to
2003.

The supects in each of the large meth busts have been Hispanic and points to
a trend away from the "mom-and-pop" operations where locals used
over-the-counter cold remedies and other chemicals to cook meth in their
homes.

"The Mexican meth is so cheap, it's not worth the trouble of making it
here," said Terry Pelfrey, a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent who heads
the Cherokee Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad.

Pelfrey has been leading the task force for two years and has noticed the
growth of big cases during that time while recently noticing a drop in busts
at smaller labs.

"There's a lot larger cases, more cases with Hispanics," he said. "When we
trace them back [to the delivery source after an arrest] it always seems to
lead back to Hispanics in Cobb and Gwinnett County."

He said getting to the source of the distribution is often difficult. "Many
are illegal aliens," he said. "It's very hard with intelligence to know who
the people are. We get a lot of nicknames."