POLICE SEES A RISE IN THEFT OF DRUG INGREDIENT

Police say they're seeing a second wave of crime behind the growth of
methamphetamine manufacturing: the theft of anhydrous ammonia from
farms and farm suppliers.

Farmers use anhydrous ammonia to replace nitrogen, a valuable
nutrient, in soil after the growing season. But it is also a vital
ingredient in methamphetamine.

"Every retailer at every facility has been hit in one way or another
by these thieves. It's totally out of hand here," said Walt Longo,
crops department manager for Adams County FS, a line of fertilizer
supply stores.

"Everybody we talk to is stealing the anhydrous," said Sgt. Glenn
Schwartz, who is on a task force of police agencies to fight
narcotics. "They steal it from the nurse tanks in the fields."

Longo said his supply houses are hit by thieves an average of four to
six times a month.


Checked-by: Rich O'Grady