TWO COUNTIES IN AREA SEE SPIKE IN METH PRODUCTION

The explosive increase in the production of methamphetamine, once
concentrated in remote areas of the Ozarks, is spreading east to the
fast-growing counties of Franklin and Jefferson in the St. Louis area,
according to federal and state figures released Tuesday.

And for the second year in a row, Missouri leads the nation in the number
of meth raids and seizures.

Last year, more than one out of every six meth labs, ingredient caches and
dump sites discovered in the country were found in Missouri. Police in
Missouri recorded 2,725 raids and seizures last year. That's about a 28
percent increase over 2001 numbers and widens the gap between Missouri and
the rest of the country.

Some police and lawmakers say Missouri's meth numbers are so high because
drug officers are becoming more proficient at catching meth cooks. But most
meth investigators say production is on the rise.

"There's way more of this stuff being made, and there's way more people
taking meth," said Detective Jason Grellner, head of a three-man narcotics
unit in the Franklin County Sheriff's Department. "It's going to keep
increasing until it reaches a point of saturation, and no one knows when
that will be."

Grellner said meth use and production are "at crisis levels" in the state.

In Missouri, the stronghold of the highly addictive meth has been the
Ozarks. Production and use are still high there, and Jasper County in
southwest Missouri led the state with 178 meth raids and seizures last
year. Franklin County ranked second with 152 raids and seizures last year,
up from 67 in 2001, and Jefferson County was third with 148 last year, up
from 88 in 2001.

Figures weren't as high in other St. Louis-area counties last year. The
Missouri Highway Patrol says 59 raids and seizures occurred in St. Louis
County, 48 in St. Charles County and six in St. Louis.

In Illinois, authorities made 525 seizures last year, up from about 229 the
year before. The state now ranks ninth in the number of meth raids.

Mike Dixon, deputy director of the Metropolitan Enforcement Group of
Southwestern Illinois, said he was surprised that the number of seizures in
Illinois wasn't higher. He predicts that the agency will investigate more
than 140 laboratories this year, nearly double the 58 cases investigated
last year.

"Methamphetamine is taking a front and center role as far as cases taking
up our time," Dixon said.

Meth - often called ice, crystal or crank - is a powerful stimulant that
can be smoked, injected, snorted or consumed in pill form. The drug is
manufactured in makeshift labs using pseudoephedrine, the active ingredient
in most cold pills, and other ingredients such as the farm fertilizer
anhydrous ammonia or red phosphorous, which is found in flares and matches.
The concoction is volatile and toxic, and some meth labs have exploded.

Most meth cooks are addicted to the drug, which can make users paranoid and
prone to violence. In Salem, Mo., a suspected meth cook was accused in a
killing spree that left a sheriff's deputy and two others dead. Police
believe that the shooting was triggered by a dispute over 1 1/2 pounds of
meth, enough to keep hundreds of people high for days.

"Normally, when we take down a lab, we find a firearm, usually a stolen
firearm," said Jefferson County Sheriff Oliver "Glenn" Boyer. "You combine
the paranoia caused by meth, a firearm and a law enforcement officer
knocking on the door, and you've got a serious problem."

When it comes to meth, police in Missouri are among the best prepared in
the nation. More than 500 officers have completed intensive training in how
to recognize labs, investigate meth dealers and safely handle the hazardous
materials used to make the drug.

"We're better trained, and we're catching more people and finding more
labs, that's certain," said Capt. Ron Replogle, who heads the Missouri
Highway Patrol's division of drug and crime control, which coordinates
Missouri's war on meth. "But I can't say that more meth isn't being made in
Missouri."

He added: "We're devoting a lot of resources and a lot of manpower to fight
the meth problem. . . . But the problem is when we shut down one area or
make it harder to get some (ingredients), they find a way around us."

Sgt. Mike Cooper runs narcotics investigations for the Highway Patrol in
southwest Missouri and heads up an Ozarks drug task force made up of state
troopers, sheriff's deputies and municipal police. He's taken down some of
the biggest meth labs in Missouri, and he says he can't see a light at the
end of the tunnel.

"We don't have time to do anything else," Cooper said. "The rural
jurisdictions out here are inundated with crime, and almost all of it
revolves around methamphetamine."

Cooper has watched meth spread in Missouri, from Kansas City to the
southwest and, in recent years, to the St. Louis area. He said that
although the St. Louis drug scene is still dominated by cocaine and heroin,
St. Louisans should expect meth use to grow quickly now that is has a
foothold in nearby Franklin and Jefferson counties.

Some legislators and police say one way to fight the problem is to impose
more restrictions on the amount of cold pills that can be bought at one
time. But that effort is facing stiff opposition from lobbyists
representing gas stations, convenience stores and pharmaceutical companies.

And even some proponents of the measure say it's just a stopgap in the war
on meth.

Trisha Howard of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.