METH LABS BOILING UP AGAIN ACROSS UPSTATE

Lt. Ashley Harris is back in other people's labs.

A chemist for the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office, Harris has
helped investigate 11 methamphetamine labs in the county this year,
up from only one in 2006 and four in 2005. New laws limiting the
availability of key ingredients and creating stiffer penalties for
meth production led to a lull in activity throughout the state and
nation since 2004, when Spartanburg County saw 17 labs.

Why business is again booming isn't clear.

The release of prior offenders from prison could play into the
increase, Harris said.

Cooking again

"This year it's just started back off, and I think one reason is the
guys we arrested in 2003, 2004 are coming back out," he said. "Once
one guy hits the streets, he teaches a guy who teaches this guy."

Since the beginning of the federal fiscal year on Oct. 1, the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Administration's Greenville office has seen 11 labs
in the 10-county Upstate region, said John Ozaluk, DEA assistant
special agent in charge for South Carolina. It's a stark contrast
from the entire fiscal year that ended in October, when 29 labs were
reported to the Greenville office.

The coming months might shed more light on whether labs have made an
actual resurgence, Ozaluk said.

"Even if it's just one, that's more than we'd like to see," he said.
"I think it's still early in the year, but if that's a trend, if
we're already in double digits the second month of our reporting
cycle, hopefully that's not going to continue."

The true numbers could be higher because the DEA relies on data
provided by local departments, Ozaluk said, and the DEA statistics
generally don't include lab sites that don't require professional
cleanups, such as when officers find trash indicating a lab was once
in operation.

Demand steady

Meth, a high-powered stimulant, can be "cooked" using household
chemicals and common medicines, including ephedrine or
pseudoephedrine, which is found in products such as Sudafed. In
September 2006, a federal law went into effect mandating medicines
containing those ingredients be kept behind the counter and
restricting the amount of such drugs an individual can buy each month.

The buyer must show photo identification. This year, Harris said,
Spartanburg County deputies have started getting tips from pharmacies
and other stores about people who buy significant quantities of the
medicines in a short time period.

The decrease in labs found locally in 2005 and 2006 doesn't mean
demand is any less. "Super" labs producing massive quantities of the
drug in Mexico have become a primary source for users in South
Carolina, according to the DEA.

Still, the number of people seeking treatment for meth addiction
locally pales in comparison to individuals who seek help for
marijuana and cocaine use, said Kathy Murphy, deputy director of
outpatient services for the Spartanburg Alcohol and Drug Abuse
Commission. Only 66 out of 3,300 clients in outpatient treatment
through the commission during the past year were specifically
identified as methamphetamine users, although others had tried the
drug, she said.

Excluding three meth labs discovered in vehicles during traffic
stops, the labs found this year in Spartanburg County have been in
rural areas or motel rooms along I-85 or Business 85. The Mayo,
Clifton and Cowpens communities in particular have been host to
multiple busts during the past years.

Some labs are found because of tips from the public or informants,
others by pure chance. In April, for example, deputies discovered
empty pill boxes and blister packs indicative of a meth lab at
Country Hearth Inn on International Drive after the room's occupant
failed to check out as scheduled.

A house fire alerted sheriff's deputies to the presence of a meth lab
on Mayo Road in June. Harris said the resident ran from the house
before first responders arrived - leaving behind his shoes and
possibly his pants - and firefighters searching the home for victims
called officers after observing chemicals and glassware associated
with meth production.

An investigation found the fire did not appear to be related to the
lab, but officers found lab materials in at least four rooms in the
house and in trash bags outside. A video camera had been installed on
the roof of the house, pointing toward the driveway, according to
sheriff's office reports. Officers charged the resident with
trafficking in meth.

In July, a Cowpens couple were arrested after an officer serving a
bench warrant noticed a Pyrex dish with white residue inside the home
and plastic bags that later tested positive for meth. After obtaining
a search warrant, investigators found lab materials in a room off
the kitchen, its entrance covered with a black sheet, according to
sheriff's office reports. Other lab materials were in the kitchen,
living room and front porch.

In 2006, the county's only lab was found on Thrift Road in Mayo. One
lab in 2005 was in a vehicle, as were four in 2004. Also in 2004,
investigators found trash from meth production on the side of the
road, one in the Fingerville community and one near Woodruff.

Sgt. Doug Harwell, a narcotics officer with the Spartanburg Public
Safety Department, said he can't remember the last time a working lab
was found inside the Spartanburg city limits. "People are using it in
the city, but there's a (lab) odor, and the city's population is so
dense that it's hard to hide," he said.

More labs in Upstate

The Palmetto state traditionally has seen more meth labs and higher
methamphetamine use in the Upstate than in areas such as Charleston,
where heroin is more common than meth, Harris said. Since Oct. 1, the
DEA has recorded only three labs outside of the Upstate, Ozaluk said.

"There's a couple reasons I think factor into that," he said. "One is
the geography of the state - the more rural the setting, we seem to
find more meth labs. And often what we find is if there's a pretty
active meth problem, other people learn how to manufacture the meth
because there's more meth labs in the area and it doesn't take much
more than being interested about it to find out how to do it."

Additionally, proactive law enforcement and heightened public
awareness of meth lab odors and indicators lead to more lab busts.
The discovery of one lab often creates a "snowball" effect, Harris
said, leading to more busts as suspects tell officers who taught them
to cook the drug.

The street price of meth also has risen, providing more incentive to
produce it, Harris said. The drug's cost now ranges between $80 to
$140 per gram in the area, he said.

Whatever the reason behind the increased lab finds this year, Harris
is sure of one thing: Lab discoveries, often cyclical, are far from
over.

"I think you're going to see more of it," he said.