COUNTY BOASTS METH LAB CLEANUPS

PASCAGOULA - Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd told county supervisors
Monday that with equipment, training and support offered through federal
grants, the county has reached the distinction of having the most
methamphetamine lab cleanups in the region.

"We've surpassed Pensacola in meth lab cleanups," Byrd said after the
meeting. "They were No. 1 in the area (from Pensacola to New Orleans)."

His department was given the distinction by a company that is involved
exclusively with meth lab cleanups.

He said his department has dealt with close to 400 meth-related cases in
recent years, from breaking up rural labs where the drug was being created
from a dangerous mix of chemicals to stopping someone transporting large
quantities of products used to make the drug.

Byrd said he believes the drug manufacturing is so prevalent in Jackson
County because it migrated from George County where a chemist was
instrumental in spreading the technique.

Ken Broadus, who has helped write drug-related grants, said Jackson County
is also in the perfect location. It has lots of rural land with connections
to metropolitan areas such as Mobile, where there is a demand for the drug.
The items needed to make the illegal drug are also available in various
locations in the county.

Byrd's department turns to the state Department of Environmental Quality
for the actual cleanup of a lab site once officers have stopped production
and made arrests.

But he has recently bought and equipped a trailer with a breathing system,
eye wash stations and protective gear to help officers stay safe until the
illegal labs are dismantled. The $50,000 cost was picked up by part of a
grant. He has also bought all-terrain vehicles and rehabilitated the county
helicopter to help in the fight.

Byrd said his department received $400,000 for fighting methamphetamine
last year, $250,000 this year and is applying to receive another $250,000
next year.

He told supervisors that his department, the Narcotics Task Force, the
Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics and the FBI Safe Streets Task Force have
put so much pressure on manufacturers in the rural areas that the drug labs
are starting to pop up at urban locations. They have uncovered labs in
Ocean Springs, in a hotel in Pascagoula and in a house on Polk Street in
Pascagoula.

Byrd said the county has had 60 meth-related arrests since October.

Board of Supervisors President John McKay told Byrd, "It's good we passed
up (Pensacola in cleanups), but it's nothing to brag about, because it
shows how bad off we are."