POLICE: METH LABS IN S.C. 'POPPING UP EVERYWHERE'

ANDERSON - Methamphetamine is becoming the drug of choice in South
Carolina, creating paranoid addicts who turn to crime to support
their habits, state and local law enforcement officials say.

The drug's sale and manufacture is plaguing police and even
firefighters, who sometimes are the first to discover where the drug is made.

Officials say the drug is used by people of all walks of life. The
labs - sometimes in the trunks of cars - are toxic fire hazards.

"Right now we're dealing with a drug that has no demographics," said
Michael Miller, director of the Anderson-Oconee Regional Forensics Laboratory.

Attorney General Henry McMaster says meth is the state's No. 1 drug problem.

"Meth is growing at a rapid rate," said sheriff's Capt. Steven
Jenkins, head of Oconee County's narcotics division. "About 60
[percent] to 65 percent of our drug cases are meth. Marijuana and
cocaine and crack are still out there, but more and more it's meth"
that investigators are finding.

"This drug is so easy to manufacture," Miller said. "It doesn't
require a lot of space or a lot of equipment, so [labs] are popping
up everywhere."

Sheriff's Sgt. Jeff Rohletter, a narcotics and vice investigator for
13 years in Oconee County, said meth labs have been found in
neighborhood homes and even the trunks of cars.

And that can mean trouble for firefighters, who often are the first
on the scene.

"My biggest concern personally is if we're responding to a fire that
has components of a meth lab ... we're not going to know about it,"
said Jack Abraham, city of Anderson fire chief. "If that meth lab ...
explodes, our people are at a high risk of injury or fatality."