METH HAS DEA CHIEF CONCERNED

Growing Drug Problem, Especially Around Kids, Worries Experts

A Davenport couple were charged Sunday with making methamphetamine
while the couple's 2-year-old granddaughter slept nearby, a situation
common in 70 percent of meth arrests nationwide, experts say.

Drug Enforcement Agency Director Asa Hutchinson visited Iowa on
Monday as part of a nationwide tour to talk about the growing meth
problem, especially around children.

Iowa officials echoed Hutchinson's concern.

"Meth is an adult drug," and many parents are addicted, said Bruce
Upchurch, Iowa's drug policy coordinator. "Once they get addicted to
these drugs, they don't care if their children are exposed. When that
happens, they become very, very dangerous to their children."

Davenport authorities charged David Zaruba, 47, and his wife, Duretta
Zaruba, 42, with possession of drugs with the intent to deliver and
child endangerment after police received a report of a strange odor
in their neighborhood. Officers said they found a meth lab in the
Zaruba home, less than 1,000 feet from Fillmore Elementary School.

Drug possession charges and final sentencing could be enhanced
because of the nearby public school, Upchurch said.

Meth is an addictive stimulant that causes paranoia and violent
outbursts and can be fatal. The smell associated with cooking meth is
a strong, acidic smell often associated with cat urine, he said.

Although much of the meth in Iowa comes from out of state, a rising
threat is from labs operating in residential areas, much of the time
with children present, Hutchinson said.

A child who lives in a Des Moines mobile home was not present
Saturday when police arrested James Reinier, 40, on suspicion of
manufacturing meth in the home at 3325 Hubbell Ave. A passer-by
noticed an unusual smell and contacted police.

As of May 16, Iowa officials had received reports of 371 meth labs or
sites where materials used to make the drug were dumped and required
cleanup, Upchurch said. Last year by mid-May, authorities had cleaned
up 309 meth sites, with 771 sites reported for the entire year. A
meth lab costs an average of $3,200 to clean up, meaning about $1.8
million was spent last year in Iowa on cleanup alone.

The increase in the number of meth labs and dump sites found is the
result of both more meth being manufactured and more enforcement,
Hutchinson said.

Police in Davenport discovered a cooler containing what they believe
is anhydrous ammonia, along with wrapping from pseudo-ephedrine
packages and lithium strips. Those substances often are used to make
meth in Iowa, Upchurch said, because anhydrous ammonia is readily
available in fertilizer.

New concern may be warranted about nationwide drug trafficking, said
Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Ia. When 400 FBI agents are shifted from other
projects to the national Homeland Security Department, the war on
drugs could end up on the back burner, he said.

"Let's not forget, we have a terrorist threat right here in Iowa, and
it's called methamphetamine," Harkin said Monday.

Harkin and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Ia., are seeking approval for a
Midwest Drug Training Center that would be at Camp Dodge in Johnston.

The proposed center for law enforcement officers would cost about $3
million to establish and $5 million per year to maintain.
Mississippi, Florida and California have such centers, but there is
"a big hole here in the Midwest," Grassley said.

"When you're going after these labs, it happens here, not in
Washington," Harkin said.