FARMS ROBBED FOR CHEMICAL TO PRODUCE ILLEGAL DRUGS

Thieves Seeking Meth Additive Steal Fertilizer

TOLEDO, Ohio -- A siphoning hose found on the ground next to a tank filled
with farm fertilizer was the first clue.

Drug thieves had tapped into the tank at a fertilizer plant to steal
anhydrous ammonia -- a volatile ingredient that can be used to produce
methamphetamine.

Fertilizer plants and farms nationwide are increasingly being targeted as
popularity and production of meth soars. The trend has been dangerous --
improper handling of the chemicals has caused sickness in some people and
forced evacuations of nearby communities.

States including Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas have been fighting
ammonia thieves since 1998. Now thefts have spread throughout the South and
Midwest, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

"How many times we've been hit I don't know," said Greg Lowe, who monitors
losses at County Springs Farmers Co-op in Sandusky County in north-central
Ohio.

Anhydrous ammonia, which costs about $245 a ton, is close to pure nitrogen
and is sprayed on corn fields to increase growth. Drug makers mix it with
common chemicals such as starter fluid, paint thinner, batteries and cold
medicine to produce methamphetamine.

"It's the cheap man's cocaine," said Mark Murtha, an agent for the DEA.

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.

Meth labs have been mushrooming. Last year, the state with the highest
number of meth lab seizures was California, with 1,232, the DEA said.

"I don't think there's a week last year where we didn't find one, get ready
to find one or hear about one," said Richard Cerniglia, the DEA agent in
charge in Cincinnati.

Federal and local agents in Ohio found 114 labs last year, up from 23 the
year before.

The state has 234 sites registered to store anhydrous ammonia. The Ohio
Department of Agriculture inspects them all to make sure the chemicals are
stored properly. Many times the thefts go undetected because no more than
10 pounds are taken.

"There's not a lot you can do," said Rick Dunbar, who manages the Edon
Farmers Co-op in northwest Ohio's Williams County. "We put chains and
padlocks on the tanks and the next time, they just cut the chain."

The thefts of the chemical, which causes a freezing burn and can peel skin
or melt the cornea of an eye, also have taken their toll on nearby communities.

In April, all 230 residents in Old Monroe, Mo., were forced from their
homes when thieves let ammonia leak out of a storage tank.

An apparently botched theft at a farm supply store in Utica, Ky., in
September forced 50 people from their homes and caused several crashes on a
highway when drivers inhaled the fumes.

And police officers have been seriously burned while tracking down propane
tanks and milk jugs filled with ammonia.

John Randall, a sheriff's deputy in Vernon County, Mo., had a cooler full
of ammonia thrown at him while chasing a suspect in April.

"We were in a dead run and this vapor cloud just came at us," Randall said.
"It was hard to breathe. We were both sick and throwing up."

Despite the risks from the chemicals, farmers are having trouble protecting
their stashes from determined thieves.

One company is working on new locks for the tanks, but some farmers fear
stronger locks will just encourage criminals to damage their tanks.
Chemists at Iowa State University are trying to find an additive that could
be mixed into the ammonia and make it useless for meth addicts.

Lowe has met with other co-op managers in Indiana to talk about how to
thwart the thieves.

"What we're trying to do is to slow them down and make it harder for them
get it," he said. "But if they want it bad enough, they're going to get it."

Ron Bean, a Missouri farmer, said his portable tanks have been hit more
than 100 times. He was reluctant to give out his hometown because he feared
more thefts.

"How do you stop fanatics when they're dedicated? ... There's no risk they
won't take," he said.