COUNTY RANKS 3RD IN STATE FOR CASES INVOLVING METHAMPHETAMINE PRODUCTION

Sheriff Supports Bill To Make Penalties For Such Crimes Tougher

County Ranks Third In State In Production

Jefferson County Sheriff Oliver "Glenn" Boyer is happy that the county has
dropped in a recent statewide ranking, but there's little else to cheer about.

Jefferson County is third only to southwest Missouri's Jasper County and
nearby Franklin County in the number of drug labs, ingredient caches and
meth-related dump sites discovered by police in 2002, according to
statewide crime statistics released Tuesday.

Months ago, it looked like Jefferson County might be Missouri's top meth
county, or at least the first runner-up in the notorious ranking.

Jasper County led the state with 178 meth raids and seizures in 2002, up
from 148 in 2001. Franklin County finished second with 152 raids and
seizures in 2002, up from 67 in 2001, and Jefferson County was a close
third with 148 cases last year, up from 67 in 2001.

Although the meth cases in Jefferson County are more than double what they
were in 2001, officials say the county made a lot of progress in the war
against meth.

The Jefferson County drug task force, composed of sheriff's deputies and
municipal police officers, is putting more leading meth criminals behind
bars. The squad's biggest success last year was the dismantling of the
Haferkamp gang. Tina Haferkamp and her son, Michael, the leaders of what
police dubbed Jefferson County's most sophisticated meth ring, have been
sentenced to 15 years each in federal prison.

Area cities are passing get-tough measures targeting meth makers. State law
limits the amount of cold medicine containing pseudoephedrine that
customers can buy, and several cities, including Arnold and Festus, have
passed measures that force the pills to be stored behind counters, where
they are more difficult to steal.

Now county leaders want to concentrate on children who can be harmed when
family members make meth.

Missouri's first child fatality as a result to exposure to a meth lab
occurred last year. In September, 11-month old Zarrin Doubet, of Carthage,
Mo., died after drinking Coleman fuel, allegedly left over from his
father's meth lab. Coleman fuel, legally sold and used for camping, is used
illegally in the production of meth.

Boyer and others say they don't want to see anything similar happen in
Jefferson County. They're leading an effort to crack down on meth cooks who
make the drug in the presence of children.

"It's not uncommon for us to find a lab where children are present or where
there is evidence that they were recently there," Boyer said. "And a child
has no idea what kind of chemicals are in the lab or what harm they can cause."

Boyer plans to support and promote legislation that Sen. Steve Stoll,
D-Festus, plans to introduce this year to make it a crime to make
methamphetamine in a building where children live or within 2,000 feet of a
school. The measure would be used by prosecutors to get tougher sentences
in meth cases; it would require a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison.

Boyer said he had talked with Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Bob
Wilkins about what police here can do under current law to go after meth
cooks who put their children in danger.

"The question is how is the child going to react 20 years down the road or,
in the short term, is this child going to start making meth himself in a
few years," Boyer said. "If we don't break this cycle now, when are we
going to do it?"