METH ISN'T DRUG OF CHOICE IN SOUTHERN WISCONSIN

Authorities in Rock and Walworth counties say cocaine and marijuana remain
the drugs of choice, and methamphetamine is rarely seen.

"Here over the last few years we haven't been seeing much of it," said
Master Sgt. Martin Zamudio, head of the Stateline Area Narcotics Team squad
headquartered in Beloit. "We're seeing it more in the western counties that
we cover, like Lafayette County."

He said drug units in central and southern Illinois also are "inundated"
with methamphetamine cases.

The SLANT squad in Beloit has gotten a few calls in recent months about
people in Rock County making or selling methamphetamines, Zamudio said, but
agents haven't been able to confirm any of the reports.

The Beloit SLANT squad spends most of its time investigating crack cocaine
cases, followed by marijuana, powder cocaine, heroine and ecstasy.

In Walworth County, too, marijuana and cocaine remain the biggest problems,
said Sgt. Jeff Patek of the Walworth County Sheriff's Department Drug Unit.

Methamphetamine falls nearly to the end of the list of popular drugs used
in the area, unlike the western and northern parts of Wisconsin, Patek said.

"Meth is their No. 1, but down here, it is kind of the opposite," Patek
said of meth's geographic usage.

Patek remembers only two methamphetamine lab busts in 2004, and neither lab
was operational at the time of the police raids. User arrest rates are also
minimal compared to marijuana and cocaine, Patek said.

The last methamphetamine lab found in Janesville was in July 1999, when
police executed a search warrant at 2317 Rockport Road. Steven L. Boles and
Lyman C. Rud, who both lived in the house, were arrested on charges of
manufacturing methamphetamine.

Because methamphetamine is considered a heavy drug, its users, dealers and
makers are punished more severely in Walworth County, Patek said.

"It's a cheaper, poor-man's cocaine," Patek said. "The high it will get you
is more addictive and is stronger. The penalties are a lot worse because of
that.

"Being a county where we don't have a lot of (methamphetamine arrests) we
push for the judges and the district attorney to give a longer sentence,"
Patek said.

Methamphetamine, if made incorrectly, can cause very serious health
problems to users and can even explode in the lab, Patek said.

The cleanup is also expensive because materials used to make
methamphetamine can be toxic, Patek said. Officers need to wear protective
suits and gas masks when collecting evidence from methamphetamine labs.