News (Media Awareness Project) - US HI: Expert Expects Surge In Secret 'Ice' Labs |
| Title: | US HI: Expert Expects Surge In Secret 'Ice' Labs |
| Published On: | 2000-09-20 |
| Source: | Honolulu Advertiser (HI) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-09-03 08:08:43 |
EXPERT EXPECTS SURGE IN SECRET `ICE' LABS
Methamphetamine `So Easy To Make'
A Mainland drug expert yesterday said Hawai'i should brace for an increase in secret methamphetamine laboratories because of national trends, ease of production and widespread use of "ice" in the Islands.
"It's ludicrous to think that all methamphetamine is smuggled in," said Tom Harber, executive board chairman of the Clandestine Laboratory Investigators Association. "It's so easy to make now."
Harber is in Honolulu for a weeklong convention that will address the problem of clandestine labs. He described them as portable labs that use easy-to-find chemicals to produce drugs quickly.
"You don't need a lot of sophisticated equipment like in the '80s," said Harber, a former Las Vegas police officer who has been with the Clandestine Laboratory Investigators Association since its inception in 1988.
"Now with the process down to four hours, people who want drugs will get drugs. They'll start making it instead of getting it outside the island. Why deal with the middlemen when they can make it themselves?"
Honolulu police investigated three drug labs this year and have averaged about 20 investigations annually for the past four years, said Honolulu Police Department evidence specialist supervisor Dean Yamamoto, who trains officers in clandestine lab safety and detection. By comparison: Last year in California, authorities broke up more than 100 labs.
Law enforcement officials say methamphetamine is the state's leading drug problem and estimate there are 30,000 to 40,000 hard-core users in Hawai'i.
The common drug labs in Hawai'i are called conversion labs, which convert powder or liquid methamphetamine into smokable crystals, or wash labs, which refine and clean methamphetamine, said HPD's Detective Michael Cho, who works in the clandestine laboratory team.
HPD started its clandestine laboratory response team in September 1996 under the direction of Deputy Chief Michael Carvalho, who was the major of the Narcotics-Vice Division at the time. The team has 80 certified officers from the SWAT team, narcotics division and scientific investigation section.
"I think we're very well prepared for anything," Yamamoto said.
Methamphetamine `So Easy To Make'
A Mainland drug expert yesterday said Hawai'i should brace for an increase in secret methamphetamine laboratories because of national trends, ease of production and widespread use of "ice" in the Islands.
"It's ludicrous to think that all methamphetamine is smuggled in," said Tom Harber, executive board chairman of the Clandestine Laboratory Investigators Association. "It's so easy to make now."
Harber is in Honolulu for a weeklong convention that will address the problem of clandestine labs. He described them as portable labs that use easy-to-find chemicals to produce drugs quickly.
"You don't need a lot of sophisticated equipment like in the '80s," said Harber, a former Las Vegas police officer who has been with the Clandestine Laboratory Investigators Association since its inception in 1988.
"Now with the process down to four hours, people who want drugs will get drugs. They'll start making it instead of getting it outside the island. Why deal with the middlemen when they can make it themselves?"
Honolulu police investigated three drug labs this year and have averaged about 20 investigations annually for the past four years, said Honolulu Police Department evidence specialist supervisor Dean Yamamoto, who trains officers in clandestine lab safety and detection. By comparison: Last year in California, authorities broke up more than 100 labs.
Law enforcement officials say methamphetamine is the state's leading drug problem and estimate there are 30,000 to 40,000 hard-core users in Hawai'i.
The common drug labs in Hawai'i are called conversion labs, which convert powder or liquid methamphetamine into smokable crystals, or wash labs, which refine and clean methamphetamine, said HPD's Detective Michael Cho, who works in the clandestine laboratory team.
HPD started its clandestine laboratory response team in September 1996 under the direction of Deputy Chief Michael Carvalho, who was the major of the Narcotics-Vice Division at the time. The team has 80 certified officers from the SWAT team, narcotics division and scientific investigation section.
"I think we're very well prepared for anything," Yamamoto said.
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