VALLEY METH-MAKING AT A ROLLING BOIL

California produces more than 90 percent of the nation's
methamphetamine, an insidious drug capable of transforming even the
most caring Jekyll into a brutish Hyde.

Here's another sobering statistic: Of the 55 large-scale
methamphetamine labs busted nationwide last year, 46 were in
California. Most of those were found in the Central Valley.

Coupled with the fact that methamphetamine, once known as the "poor
man's cocaine," no longer confines itself to the bottom rungs of the
socioeconomic ladder, such numbers finally have grabbed politicians by
the lapels.

If only that were enough.

"The truth is," one high-ranking federal official told The Bee, "we
probably know more about the drug trade in Colombia than we do here."

While federal, state and local agencies struggle to share information
and coordinate their efforts, the so-called super labs -- those
capable of producing more than 100 pounds of meth in a single
"cooking" -- continue to proliferate in the Central Valley despite the
best efforts of law enforcement.

That's why Rep. Calvin Dooley, D-Hanford, wants the Eastern District
of California, which includes the Central Valley, declared a High
Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and
Barbara Boxer, both Democrats, support the designation.

While Dooley's request remains under consideration by retired Gen.
Barry McCaffrey, director of the White House Office of National Drug
Control Policy, funding would not be available before 2000.

In the meantime, local law enforcement agencies, working in
cooperation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and other
federal and state agencies, are having some success in disrupting in
the production and distribution of methamphetamine.

"Between FY (fiscal year) 96 and FY97," Dooley wrote in an April 30
letter to McCaffrey, "methamphetamine lab seizures increased by 97
percent. In FY97, two-thirds of all DEA arrests in the Eastern
District were meth-related."

Still, without better coordination among the various law enforcement
agencies, improved training and more resources, officials say
California faces the prospect of winning the battle while losing the
war.

Federal officials believe Mexican organized crime is behind much of
the meth trade. But pinpointing the ringleaders has been difficult.
That's because the labs are structured so that if they are busted, the
people who are arrested know little beyond their own job -- not even
the name of the person who hired them.

One federal official said intelligence about the methamphetamine trade
is woefully lacking. He pointed out that there is no military-style
intelligence equivalent in the war on methamphetamine.

Such a centralized intelligence operation, where data could be
analyzed and shared among all the involved law enforcement agencies,
probably would make it easier for the men and women in the trenches.

Because many of those involved in the meth trade are Mexican nationals
who often use multiple aliases, law enforcement officials say it can
be difficult to determine whether they are key players in the
operation or just low-level "mopes."

It is quite possible, one local law enforcement official said, that
major players have been arrested, only to escape with light jail
sentences because no one realized who they were or what role they
actually played in the operation of the lab.

But identifying and arresting the big players in the meth trade is
only one aspect of the problem. It is a war with multiple fronts.

Law enforcement officers also want better control and data involving
the chemicals -- denatured alcohol, ephedrine and pseudoephedrine --
used in the methamphetamine manufacturing process. Most of the
substances are legal and have other uses.

Ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, for example, are found in a multitude
of common cold and allergy medicines.

The Stanislaus County Drug Enforcement Agency pioneered a program to
encourage local merchants to keep closer control of such products and
tabs on who is buying them.

Many law enforcement officials also want sentencing laws
revamped.

Penalties for the possession of methamphetamine -- whether for
personal use or sale to others -- are not as stiff as possession of
rock cocaine or heroin.

The key to the meth explosion in California and the rest of the nation
ultimately lies with the consumer. Without a horde of willing buyers,
there is no meth problem -- at least not on the current scale.

National statistics indicate that the demand for meth has skyrocketed
since 1990 even as cocaine and marijuana have fallen out of favor.

And the meth problem is likely to get worse before it gets
better.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy believes the proliferation
of methamphetamine will be the biggest drug problem the nation faces
in the next 10 years.

All the more reason to turn the rhetoric into action, one local law
enforcement official said, sooner rather than later.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry