Fighting Back: The Meth Epidemic (Part 1 of 4)

TRAFFICKING ARRESTS OFTEN FOLLOW WEEKS OF WORK

From behind the tinted windows of an idling vehicle, three undercover city
police officers waited patiently along an east Owensboro street,
occasionally using binoculars to watch a home one block away.

Upon first glance the home in the 1600 block of Hall Street appeared to be
a popular gathering spot. It was almost sunset on a Friday, and several men
and women lounged in the small yard or swung their legs over the edge of a
porch. A young boy wearing one sandal screeched with joy while playing with
two stray dogs.

For police, however, the reason behind the home's popularity was no secret:
methamphetamine for sale.

Police had an arrest warrant for the home's resident on a felony meth
trafficking charge. Before making the arrest they conducted surveillance
and called for a marked police cruiser to stop at least one vehicle seen
leaving the home. That stop resulted in one of the car's occupants being
charged with a drug-related violation.

The home is similar to dozens of other houses in Daviess and surrounding
counties that have helped spawn what often seems to be western Kentucky's
fastest-growing business, the making and selling of meth. Since police
found the county's first meth lab in 1998, the presence of meth and crime
reports involving ingredients have skyrocketed.

A typical crack cocaine addict will resort to small thefts and other crimes
to fund a habit, said Sgt. Brock Peterson of the street crimes unit. To
fund a meth addiction, a user will begin making the drug, often selling
just enough of the finished product to cover the costs of ingredients, he said.

Owensboro Police Department Officers Scott Norris, right, and Randy Boling,
both working undercover with the street crimes unit, check out items
possibly containing drugs that were removed from a house in the 1600 block
of Hall Street on May 21. The officers used a field test kit at the scene,
which gave them preliminary results that determined the presence of
methamphetamine. Photo by Jenny Sevcik, M-I

"That's where you see cooks popping up everywhere," Peterson said. "Meth is
just a totally different ballgame."

Since 1998, Daviess County law enforcement authorities have found almost
350 meth labs at some stage of production. Despite the telltale fumes
emitted by the ether and ammonia, many of the labs continue to be found in
crowded city suburbs. Often the labs operate in the same home with small
children.

The Owensboro Police Department dismantled 46 meth labs in 2003 and have
recorded at least 13 so far this year, Peterson said.

After conducting surveillance on the Hall Street home, two carloads of
officers from the city police street crimes unit raided the home,
questioned the friends, arrested the resident on felony drug charges and
seized items from the home.

In the hour that police were at the home, about five vehicles arrived to
visit the home's resident. The vehicle occupants were apparently unaware
that many of the men in the yard were undercover police.

A lab was not found, but from the home and the resident police seized a
roll of $20 bills, meth, a small amount of marijuana, digital scales and a
gun. Several pill capsules had been emptied and filled with meth for a
convenient resale package.

The arrest of the resident stemmed from a March undercover buy from a
confidential informant, Peterson said. Police use a variety of methods to
turn one narcotics arrest into several.

Gathering information

A person arrested is always interviewed about where their drugs come from,
Peterson said. Sometimes, they may be offered a deal in their criminal case
if they agree to work with police and make a drug purchase from another dealer.

A narcotics investigation is very different from other criminal cases
because of the amount of preliminary surveillance and investigation,
Daviess County Sheriff's Department Lt. Jeff Jones said. Unless someone is
caught in the act of making or possessing meth, a criminal case may take
weeks or months.

"I can understand how the public may become frustrated when they call in
and may not see an arrest in the paper the next day," Jones said.

Concerns from the public that not enough is being done is a complaint that
all police are familiar with.

Both city police and sheriff's investigators deal with an abundance of tips
about suspected drug activity. Even with more tips about drug activity than
police can immediately respond to, police encourage people to keep the
information coming.

"That's how we in law enforcement determine where a problem might be and
how we need to devote our resources, too," Jones said.

Meth Laws

Methamphetamine laws since the western Kentucky wave began in 1998:

1998

KRS 218A.1432 -- Law made it illegal to manufacture methamphetamine and
established the penalties. A June 2003 decision by the Kentucky Supreme
Court has rendered this law difficult to use. A discrepancy involves
whether all or some of the ingredients are necessary for the charge. As a
result, many police will charge someone with attempted manufacturing of
methamphetamine, which carries a lesser penalty but is still a felony. An
attempt to clarify the law failed to pass during the 2004 General Assembly.

2000

KRS 250.489 and 250.4892 -- Laws made it a felony to tamper with anhydrous
ammonia tanks or to possess the farm fertilizer in unapproved containers.
Before these laws a person caught stealing anhydrous with the intention of
making meth could only be charged with misdemeanor theft or trespassing crimes.

2002

KRS 218A.1438 -- Law made it a felony to distribute methamphetamine
precursors. This law applies to people who sell items used in the
meth-making process such as decongestant pills with reckless disregard for
how they are used. Three convenience store clerks in Daviess County have
been charged with this crime during 2004.

KRS 218A.1437 -- Law made it a felony to possess meth precursors. This law
makes it illegal to possess more than 24 grams of ephedrine or
pseudophedrine with the intent to use them as a precursor for meth making.
The law has several exceptions, which include pharmacists and chemists.