'SHAKE-AND-BAKE' METH HARDER TO DETECT

These days, you don't need a stove for shake-and-bake.

Or to cook methamphetamine.

The drug itself hasn't changed, but the process of making it has,
according to Chief Deputy Jack Campbell of the Sangamon County
Sheriff's Office. Meth stoves, or "labs" -- often converted coolers --
are being traded for plastic bottles with the newfound prevalence of
what authorities have termed "shake-and-bake" methamphetamine.

"It's basically self-contained," Campbell said. "Everything is put
into a plastic jug or two-liter soda bottle, and when they shake it
up, they don't let it settle out. They pour that liquid through a
coffee filter."

More Cooks

Because it's relatively easy, shake-and-bake has brought more people
into the meth production business, he said.

"Before, with a typical meth-using group, there were only one or two
people who knew how to cook the meth," Cambell said. "Using this
method, virtually any of them can make it."

The sheriff's office hasn't yet found any remnants of the new, more
mobile meth factories, but deputies know they're out there.

"We're getting information about them through informants," Campbell
said.

Making "shake-and-bake" methamphetamine that's self-contained within a
bottle means the odor -- which authorities compare to an overpowering
stench of cat urine -- isn't as strong as that of traditional cooking
methods.

"Now they can go out in a pickup truck and make it in their pickup
truck as they're driving around," Campbell said. "It makes it harder
for us to detect it."

Contributing to the phenomenon are stronger forms of cold medication,
which often contains pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in
methamphetamine. Because the new method makes smaller batches out of
less ingredients, fewer pills are necessary.

"Previously they had pills as low as 30 milligrams," he said. "Now
they've got the 24-hour tablets that are 240 milligrams. The potential
is it takes a lot less because you're getting a lot out of that
ephedrine tablet."

Whereas traditional cooking methods sometimes led to deadly explosions
inside homes, there haven't been any reports of "shake-and-bake"
bottles erupting, although it is possible for the shaking to create
giant fireballs, Campbell said.

"If it does happen, if they go out in the country and do it someplace,
they're less likely to cause damage to their homes," he said. "Some
people actually have a conscience and they don't want their families
around it, so they take it out to the country. We think there's more
going on remotely than in houses."

That might explain why Springfield police say the shake-and-bake
method of making methamphetamine hasn't become a problem within city
limits.

Meth Use Down in City

In fact, meth use locally appears to be decreasing, said Deputy Chief
Clay Dowis of the Springfield Police Department.

"It's barely on the radar compared to cannabis, cocaine and heroin,"
Dowis said. "We have seen an increase in heroin. Meth, for whatever
reason, never became the big issue that it did in other
communities."

The new method hasn't taken hold either in Christian County, which was
a hotbed of meth-making activity until a state law took effect
restricting the purchase of cold pills.

"I can't say we're seeing that 'shake-and-bake' method with the
bottle," Christian County State's Attorney Tom Finks said. "I'm still
seeing the traditional methods, and right now we're seeing a decrease
in all meth cases."

As Sangamon County faces financial struggles and cutbacks,
investigating the new meth cases is proving frustrating, Campbell said.

"It's going to be a difficult process for us to be as efficient as we
were, but we will continue to investigate these types of crimes," he
said. "The uniformed patrol division will take a more active role in
finding people who are out buying pseudoephedrine tablets and the
batteries they need to make meth."

Deputies haven't seen a spike in the number of crimes associated with
meth, either, such as thefts, burglaries and robberies, but Campbell
suspects numbers will increase in the near future as convicts find
their way back out of jail and prison.

"The groups we've locked up over the last three to four years, they're
beginning to get out of prison, and we anticipate these groups getting
back together," he said.

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ARRESTS DROP

In January 2005, under a new state law, stores in Illinois began
stocking medications containing pseudoephedrine and ephedrine behind
the counter. Customers are limited to only two packages of cold
medicine per purchase. The law had an almost immediate impact on cases
involving methamphetamine production.

The Sangamon County Drug Investigation Response Team, which was
recently disbanded due to budget cuts, made the following meth-related
arrests or filed related criminal charges in recent years:

* 2005 - 198 meth-related arrests

* 2006 - 67 meth-related arrests

* 2007 - 42 meth-related charges

* 2008 - 35 meth-related charges

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WHAT TO LOOK FOR

Do you suspect someone might be making methamphetamine by the new
"shake-and-bake" method? Here are some things to look out for:

* A bottle - typically a two-liter plastic bottle or small jug - with
a white film or white dry powder

* Blister packs of pseudoephedrine

* Bottles of starting fluid

* Lithium batteries