STATE METH PRODUCTION DROPS

'Professional' Drug Labs In Mexico Taking Over; Local Decline
Credited To Tough Laws

PEKIN - A few years after methamphetamine spread across the fields
and towns of central Illinois, authorities believe they have stunted
the growth of small-time meth manufacturing for the time being,
thanks to collaboration between police and lawmakers.

But as domestic production of the drug drops off, the shortage has
been offset by large-scale, "professional" laboratories in Mexico
that have been gradually expanding their trade and now account for
the lion's share of the drug's supply.

Usually smoked or injected, meth is a highly addictive and
unforgiving drug whose use became prevalent in the Midwest after
spreading from California in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

"When you're using it, you're up for days at a time," said Coleen
Moore, coordinator for resource development at the Illinois Institute
for Addiction Recovery at Proctor Hospital. "They'll crash, they'll
sleep and then they'll want to start it all over again."

Experts attribute the slow but steady decrease in domestic production
to a slew of Illinois laws that toughen penalties and make key
ingredients for meth harder to obtain.

Just last month, Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed a bill that makes
stealing, improperly storing or illegally transporting anhydrous
ammonia - a toxic chemical used to fertilize farms and also to make
meth - a Class 4 felony.

Police also credit the creation of the Illinois State Police
Methamphetamine Response Teams for helping with the decline. The MRTs
cover several counties and focus solely on combating meth-related
crimes, allowing local police departments to concentrate on other
problems.

"Overall, lab seizures are down right at 50 percent from last year at
this time," said Sgt. Eric Hall, a coordinator for the six state
police MRTs.

The number of lab seizures and meth-related arrests throughout
Illinois have declined gradually since their peak in 2003. The
Illinois State Police, which handles the majority of investigations
into meth production statewide, seized 793 clandestine labs last
year, 180 fewer than in 2005. Only 249 were seized during the first
half of this year. The state's first lab ever was seized in Adams
County in 1996. Peoria's first working lab was discovered in May 2002.

In many ways, the shift in meth production from small, homemade labs
to large-scale labs operated by entrenched, veteran traffickers poses
a more challenging task for law enforcement.

Meth producers and smugglers from Mexico tend to be well-organized
and better at eluding authorities than local makers, often referred
to by officials as operating "mom-and-pop" labs.

In Tazewell County, the county in the Tri-County Area hit hardest by
the drug, most labs were crude, one-man operations where the drug was
made in small batches for personal use or to turn a slight profit.
And when police raided the labs, the accused was usually willing to
cooperate with police, Tazewell County State's Attorney Stewart
Umholtz said.

"Your local meth cook was really like the village idiot," said
Umholtz, adding his case load for meth crimes peaked in early 2003.
"Not so for these hardened criminal elements from other areas. . . .
You're not going to make much headway with them."

Demand for meth reportedly has remained steady.

"In my opinion, you're not going to totally do away with the meth
problem," Hall said. "If there's a will, there's a way."

Still, officials say the drug's grip on the state is not as ironclad
as some may think. In Illinois, meth is not the most abused drug, nor
is it commonly found in urban areas. And few, if any, quantities of
"Mexican meth" have reached the drug markets of central Illinois.

"We're just not seeing meth at all," said Larry Hawkins, director of
the Multi-County Narcotics Enforcement Group, which includes Peoria,
Tazewell, Knox and Marshall counties. "The drug of choice here is
cocaine or heroin."

Yet for a potent and profitable drug, a resurgence here is not out of
the question.

"If there is a market out there and someone thinks they can make
money, it'll be here," Hawkins said.