AUTHORITIES SEE RISE IN METH LABS

The 911 call came in Monday night: A methamphetamine lab might be inside
the caller's south Charlotte home.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police, State Bureau of Investigation agents, hazmat
crews and health department experts quickly swarmed the apartment on
Reafield Drive as they've had to do more and more this year.

It was the fifth methamphetamine lab found in Mecklenburg County since
July, said Charlotte-Mecklenburg police Capt. Bruce Bellamy. That's as many
labs found as in the previous four years combined.

Methamphetamine, a stimulant commonly called crank, glass or ice, used to
be a problem relegated to the West Coast.

But it spread east into rural nooks of the Carolinas mountains. In 1999,
officers statewide recorded nine busts of clandestine meth labs. By the
beginning of this month, the SBI had recorded 270.

Now, it appears to be trickling into more urban areas like Charlotte.
Authorities are finding more labs here, Bellamy said, and the drug is
showing up more often on the streets.

The statewide boom prompted lawmakers this year to crack down on the sale
of cold tablets containing pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in the illegal
drug.

So far, Bellamy said, Mecklenburg authorities have found labs in places
ranging from south Charlotte housing complexes to an affluent neighborhood
on Lake Norman's shore.

But he notes, they could be anywhere. The term "lab" describes where the
drug is "cooked," a process of combining household chemicals. Bellamy said
the operations could fill a room, sit in the trunk of a car or even fit
into something as small as a gym bag.

Mecklenburg hasn't yet caught up to counties like McDowell, though, where
the SBI said 54 clandestine labs were investigated in the first nine months
of the year.

But Mecklenburg authorities are becoming more accustomed to the lengthy
cleanups.

In Monday's Reafield Drive case, they worked late into the night to secure
the chemicals. They evacuated neighbors as a precaution, then allowed them
to return Tuesday once their homes had been declared safe.

Police arrested Justin Rhoden, 18, on Tuesday and said they charged him
with manufacturing methamphetamine, two counts of possession, and
possession of a weapon of mass destruction.