ARKANSAS POLICE SEE RISE IN 'ICE' FORM OF METH

Addictive Drug Usually Smuggled From California

TEXARKANA, Ark. - Southwest Arkansas law officers say a highly
addictive form of methamphetamine called "ice" is gaining popularity
in the region.

Made in the form of large crystals that look like rock candy, ice is
smoked in a glass pipe. It is 80 percent pure and unlike ordinary meth
is odorless and colorless.

"It's a lot like crack was for a while. You heard about it in other
places, and then it started moving in," said Capt. Toby Giles, chief
deputy for the Miller County Sheriff's Department. "It's pretty
common. It's a lot stronger than regular meth."

The Arkansas Crime Laboratory in Little Rock has seen an increase in
ice cases in 2004, and the drug has also turned up in several
undercover narcotics operations in the central and northwest parts of
the state.

In Miller County, Ark., and Bowie County, Texas, it has not been seen
as frequently, but it has been found, and arrests have been made.

For the most part, ice is not made in Arkansas. It is typically
smuggled from California, where large labs are able to crank out up to
100 pounds at a time. In the past, police say, most local meth cooks
were not capable of making ice because they needed more complicated
chemicals than what they had. But that is changing.

"They are taking those extra steps" to make ice, Capt. Giles
said.

He said deputies have made about a dozen arrests for ice in the last
two years and are starting to hear more about the drug on the streets.

Arkansas state police Cpl. Jeff Thomas, who works drug interdiction on
Interstate 30, said that while some ice was confiscated in early 2004,
it has not really been a problem in recent months.

"I busted a local guy back in April for having a couple of grams, but
we have not made any big arrests. We hope that it's not going to be
much of a problem," he said.