EPD KEEPS A TIGHT REIN ON METH TRADE

Using Oklahoma's law restricting the purchase of over-the-counter medicines
containing pseudoephedrine -- an ingredient used for cooking
methamphetamine -- officers from Enid Police Department have helped to stem
the tide of meth production in Garfield County, as well as northwest Oklahoma.

In the beginning ...

In July 2004, Patrolman Jason Priest was called to Walgreen's Pharmacy to
investigate a call of two suspicious women.

"They were trying to act like they weren't there together, but you could
tell they were," Priest said.

Each of the women bought a box of cold medicine containing pseudoephedrine.

Priest then used the pharmacy's logbook to identify the two women and
realized he recognized a lot of the names in the book, and the amounts and
frequency of purchases were odd, too.

"On average, a person will take about 10 grams (of medicines containing
pseudoephedrine) a year," Priest said, "or three boxes.

"A lot of these people were buying nine grams or a little less at exactly
the 30-day mark or a few days after. Some were going all over town and
buying 30 or more grams in a day."

After making copies of the logbooks from all pharmacies in Enid, Priest
began creating a database of the names he recognized or those with odd
purchasing habits.

"I updated the books in November and had 150 identified who had bought too
much, probably for illegal purposes.

"I went through and highlighted the names I knew and thinned out the
database," Priest said. "I brought it down to right around 45 people."

Of those 45 identified, Priest and other officers working with the logbook
investigation narrowed the list down to six or seven cooks, with the
remainder just buying pills for the pseudoephedrine.

"You can get $20 or $100 for a box, or $50 and bump," Priest said. "A
'bump' would be an injection of the finished product."

Priest said there are groups of about five or six people, usually with one
a cook and the other to purchase what is needed to cook a batch of meth.

"There are little circles of groups that are co-conspirators," he said.
"They're buying or stealing for one or two cooks."

So far, Priest's logbook investigation has resulted in 73 defendants, 101
cases, more than $10,000 of seized drug money, two vehicles, 16 major
charges, 23 charges of possession of methamphetamine, 10 labs seized, 10
charges of possession with intent to distribute and 15 search warrants.

"It's very labor intensive and takes a lot of footwork," said Lt. Dean
Grassino with Enid Police Department Detective Division's Narcotics
Enforcement and Criminal Interdiction Unit.

"Jason is an extremely proactive officer," Grassino said. "He put a lot of
his own hours to this.

"It was Jason's brainchild, but he wasn't able to do it without help."

Priest and Grassino are quick to point out the subsequent arrests and cases
built were part of "an extremely large team effort."

Results of their efforts

Two major busts within the last six months have helped Enid police curb
meth production in Enid with explicit results.

"It's been some time since we've seen a dump within Enid city limits,"
Grassino said.

A "dump" is a site where items from a used meth lab have been discarded.

"It's called a lab just for the lack of a better term," Grassino said.
"It's not like a high-school science class with glass tubes and burners.
It's things like pop bottles and aquarium tubing and Igloo chests, everyday
household items. You can cook it anywhere."

Grassino said meth labs have a strong odor of ammonia or ether.

Priest said he could drive through a neighborhood with his window down and
smell an active meth lab.

"It just froze my nose," Priest said. "It just smelled like a meth lab."

Priest's patrols aren't what they once were.

By catching those who purchase illegal amounts of pseudoephedrine before
they can manufacture, they effectively have cut down the supply of
methamphetamine.

"I haven't arrested somebody in a couple of months for powdered meth,"
Priest said.

Both officers realize the problem isn't easily solved.

"We have statistics saying that everyone cook teaches about 10 people how
to cook," Grassino said.

"If you can cook cookies and follow a recipe, you can cook meth."

With the logbooks helping other officers further develop cases and spawning
other investigations, statistics show the number of meth producers is
decreasing.

"We've seen a 63 percent decrease in the amount of meth labs in Enid
between 2003 and 2004," Grassino said.

"This whole operation has been a success."

Major busts and what's to come

Priest and other EPD officers have had two major busts in the past six
months, as well as three other raids, with help from the logbook
investigations. The majority of charges resulting from these two busts are
not for meth but are precursor charges such as conspiracy to possess
pseudoephedrine with intent to manufacture methamphetamine to possession of
pseudoephedrine.

Each conviction of one of these counts brings a sentence of seven years to
life imprisonment and a minimum fine of $50,000.

These are the charges simply because police are arresting suspects using
the cold pill law before they have a chance to cook meth.

On Jan. 27, Enid police launched an early morning raid based upon some of
the logbook work and subsequent investigations, netting a total of 19
arrests with 93 felony charges and six misdemeanor charges.

Sgt. Tim Jacobi of EPD Narcotics Unit stressed in January this was not just
the purchase of medicines containing pseudoephedrine warranting the
investigation.

Jacobi said the amounts and times in which they were purchased were what
led the department to investigate.

"This was not a random thing," Jacobi said. "Most the people arrested were
well known to the Enid Police Department prior to this."

On June 23, another early morning raid was launched. This time the bust
yielded 16 arrests and a total of 73 felony drug charges, with 12 charged
that day in Garfield County District Court.

All told, those two busts resulted in more than 30 arrests and 160 felony
charges.

In both raids, the logbooks were used to identify buyers. In turn, those
identified were questioned, leading police to other suspects.

"You can definitely expect more arrests from this investigation," Jacobi said.

Cracking a small smile Priest said, "This thing is not over."