POLICE SAY MEXICAN METH MAJOR PROBLEM FOR THE AREA

HARRISONBURG -- Four illegal aliens charged with conspiring to deal
500 grams or more of methamphetamine are scheduled for trial in U.S.
District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Harrisonburg
later this month.

The illegal aliens, from Mexico and El Salvador, are among seven
defendants charged in an alleged drug conspiracy from which officials
say they seized 11 ounces of meth and 23 firearms. Most of the guns
were seized from one defendant who is a U.S. citizen, according to
court records.

If convicted of federal drug conspiracy, the defendants would face a
minimum of 10 years in prison and more if they have prior felony
convictions, officials say.

From State To Federal

The case is set for trial Aug. 23-24, more than six months after
state and federal authorities seized $25,000 worth of
methamphetamine, two firearms and $1,000 from an apartment in the
Chestnut Ridge complex in Harrisonburg, according to a statement from
the RUSH Drug Task Force. Days earlier, police raided a room at the
Magnolia Motel in Rockingham County and seized 21 firearms, hundreds
of rounds of ammunition and 2 ounces of meth from co-defendants, the
statement says.

The task force and agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs and
Enforcement, and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
participated in the raids.

Since the February raids, the case has gone from having five
defendants to seven and from state to federal courts.

The most recent federal indictment includes Joel Guillen-Castellanos,
20, an illegal alien from El Salvador, and his brother Ivan
Guillen-Castellanos, 22, who was in the country on a work permit when
arrested. Three other defendants -- Zacarias Meza-Duran, 23;
Guillermo Meza-Duran, 21; and Juan Casteneda-Renteria, 19 -- are from
Mexico. The five foreign defendants are in the custody of the U.S.
Marshals service pending trial, according to court records.

The two others charged in the indictment, Eric Clark Turner, 39, and
Kimberly Dawn Litten, 35, are on bond awaiting trial, according to
court records. Turner is from Rockingham County. It's not clear where
Litten resides. Both are U.S. citizens.

Most Meth From Mexico

Investigators don't know where the methamphetamine seized in the case
originated, said Special Agent Tom Murphy, coordinator of the RUSH
Drug Task Force.

But meth from Mexico is a major problem for police in this area and
around the country, he said. "Eighty percent of all the meth in the
U.S. is coming from Mexico," Murphy said. "It's at least that here,
if not more."

The prevalence of Mexico-based meth is due in part, he says, to a
decline in domestically manufactured meth. New laws that restrict
sales of the drugs' prime ingredients, ephedrine and pseudoephedrine,
have put a crimp in domestic production, law enforcement officials say.

But those ingredients are still readily available in Mexico, Murphy
says. "Since they have an unlimited supply, they can make as much
[meth] as they want and bring it across to the U.S."

"Superlabs" in Mexico manufacture 60 to 100 pounds of meth a day, he
said. And by using low-level smugglers or "mules," the organization
can continue, even after border agents arrest smugglers, Murphy said.

"There's no question," he added, "that most of what we're fighting in
this area is methamphetamine coming from Mexico."