METH LABS COSTLY TO CLEAN, AGENCY SAYS

So Far This Fiscal Year, DEA Spent $475,000 Closing 209 Labs In S.C.

CHARLESTON - The number of methamphetamine labs across the state has been
growing, forcing law enforcement agencies to devote more money and time to
combat the problem.

The federal Drug Enforcement Administration spent $499,000 in the last
fiscal year cleaning up 254 meth labs in South Carolina.

The agency is on pace to match those numbers this year. Since October, the
DEA has spent $475,000 in the Palmetto State cleaning up 209 labs, said
John Ozaluk, agent in charge of the DEA in South Carolina.

An average lab with no complications costs at least $2,000 to clean up, and
"the cost only goes up from that point," Ozaluk said.

At the local level, police and sheriff's departments have struggled to find
funding to prepare and outfit officers to dismantle labs and secure crime
scenes tainted with hazardous materials.

"It can put a pretty good strain on your budget," said Sgt. Delmar Johnson,
a North Charleston police narcotics supervisor.

Protective suits alone can cost anywhere from $25 to $1,000 each, depending
on the level of shielding required. The suits can be used only once because
of contamination.

Charleston County's narcotics unit might go through $500 worth of
disposable suits, respirator cartridges and other equipment in the course
of the typical meth lab bust, said Detective John Nice.

That doesn't take into account the costs of manpower to investigate and
dismantle the labs.

"We spend eight to 12 hours working on a lab, minimum," said Berkeley
County Sheriff's Lt. Bruce Ashe, a narcotics unit supervisor. "That's a
whole shift, and it takes our entire unit to go into these things."

Methamphetamine is a highly addictive drug that can be produced quickly
with minimal investment and sold at a high profit.