METH MAKERS TARGET FARMERS' FERTILIZER

Crime: New York Authorities Are Disturbed By The Rise In Thefts Of
Anhydrous Ammonia, A Volatile Chemical Used On Corn And Soybean Crops.

VENICE CENTER, N.Y. -- Dale Parmley has lost count of how many times that
thieves have crept onto his 1,800-acre farm to rob him. You might think
that he was mining gold instead of growing corn and soybeans.

The bandits are after anhydrous ammonia, a volatile liquid fertilizer that
can be used to produce methamphetamine.

"They've hit my farm as many as three, four times in one week. They just
keep getting more bold," said Parmley, whose farm lies amid the Finger
Lakes in southern Cayuga County, 40 miles southwest of Syracuse. "They
caught one guy at my place. They put him in jail. He got bailed out. He hit
one of my neighbors on the way out of town."

Cayuga County has become part of an illegal pipeline for an unorganized
group of modern-day bootleggers, most of whom run the fertilizer from New
York farms to meth labs in Pennsylvania.

In the last 18 months, more than 200 anhydrous ammonia thefts have been
reported to Cayuga County sheriff's deputies, said Steve McLoud, chief
investigator. Since July 2001, there have been 32 arrests--three-fourths of
them people from Pennsylvania, he said.

Why New York. Many north-central Pennsylvania farms use other types of
fertilizers. They are also too small to risk storing ammonia, which comes
as a pressurized liquid and requires storage and application equipment that
can cost thousands of dollars.

"What's really disturbing to us, though, is that if we are able to
apprehend that many people, how many others are out there doing the same
things that we're not catching." McLoud said.

The thefts have plagued the Midwest for years, where the use of meth has
spread "like a prairie wildfire" and become rural America's No. 1 problem,
according to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration chief Asa Hutchinson.

According to a DEA survey, the number of people abusing the drug--also
known as speed, ice, crystal or crank--has tripled over five years, to 9.4
million in 1999.

In Oklahoma, thieves were so persistent that farmers and fertilizer dealers
fought for and helped pass a law that carries a maximum 15-year prison
sentence and $25,000 fine for a person caught destroying or attempting to
destroy any liquid transportation tank.

The thefts in New York so far have been mostly in Cayuga County.

"[But] we have a lot of farmers around the state who grow corn," said Chris
LaRoe, spokesman for the state Farm Bureau.

LaRoe said New York needs tougher laws. Usually, local authorities can
charge thieves only with burglary or petit larceny, misdemeanors that often
draw penalties of less than a year in jail.

Cayuga County Sheriff James Moochler said he's taking extra measures and
increasing patrols.

"Like many police agencies, our resources are limited," Moochler said.
"These locations are all rural. We have a big county to cover and it can be
difficult. Plus, these people come late at night and early in the morning,
make their grab and take off. They're not tourists. They don't spend a lot
of time here."

The thefts have so overwhelmed local authorities that Sen. Hillary Rodham
Clinton (D-N.Y.) has asked the FBI to get involved in the investigation.

The economics are enticing.

Farmers buy anhydrous ammonia for less than $1 a gallon and typically store
thousands of gallons for use at the beginning of the planting season.
Supply wagons are parked overnight in dozens of dark, remote fields.

"Runners," as thieves are called, can get up to $250 a gallon. Using
coolers, propane tanks and empty soda syrup canisters, they haul away
several gallons at a time.

With one gallon, a meth cook can make a few ounces of the drug, worth about
$2,000. The average homeowner would probably find most of the ingredients
for cooking meth--lithium batteries, matches, cold medication and liquid
solvents--in a kitchen junk drawer and medicine cabinet.

Anhydrous ammonia can be deadly. Federal regulations govern its use,
requiring specific procedures and equipment for handling. Farmers use it as
a fertilizer ingredient and know how to handle it safely. Some, like
Parmley, use tens of thousands of gallons during planting season, storing
it in 30,000-gallon railroad tanker cars and transporting it to the field
in 1,000-gallon "wagon" tanks.

The pressurized liquid can produce more than 200 pounds of pressure per
square inch. It feels like minus 160 degrees on the skin. It turns into a
gas when exposed to air and, although it evaporates quickly, can cause
serious skin and respiratory burns and even death if exposure is direct or
prolonged.

Frequently, the chemical ends up spilled or abandoned by the thieves,
authorities said.

"They are dumping their waste in their backyards, along the side of the
road, wherever they feel they need to," said Mark Nemier, with the DEA
office in Syracuse.

Rodney Donald said it "seems like just about every week" that thieves hit
the 1,300-acre farm he owns with his brother, Robert.

The Donalds have reinforced valve coverings with steel and installed
heavy-duty locks that can't be broken with bolt cutters. Other farmers have
mislabeled their anhydrous ammonia tanks as propane, installed barbed-wire
fencing, and moved their tanks closer to barns and homes.

Nothing has worked.

"I'm just worried that they're going to get greedy and try to steal a wagon
out of a field. That would be real stupid and real dangerous," Rodney
Donald said.

So far, there has been no violence, although several thieves have been
arrested carrying guns and knives. There have been two high-speed chases
with police, and frequent run-ins between patrolling farmers and noisy thieves.

"It's only a matter of time," McLoud said. "I know farmers are only looking
to protect their property. But they don't know who or what they are dealing
with. You never know when one of these guys is high on the stuff, and if
he's armed, a farmer might get hurt. And I'm just as worried about one of
these farmers, in a fit of rage, injuring or killing a suspect."

Parmley, meanwhile, said he'll stop storing the chemical at his farm and
buy only what he needs when he needs it.

"Let's see them steal what I ain't got," he said.