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ATTORNEYS SAY REGION HAS PRODUCED MOST METH BUSTS

ABINGDON - With seven busts already this year, authorities say more
suspected methamphetamine labs have been seized in Washington County
than any other county in Virginia.

Washington County accounts for a quarter of suspected labs seized in
the state; if Bristol Virginia is included in that number, it grows to
nearly a third.

Abuse of the stimulant, known as meth, ice or crank, is widespread in
Southwest Virginia. The drug is snorted or injected.

The region, which also leads the state, includes the counties of
Buchanan, Carroll, Dickenson, Giles, Grayson, Bland, Lee, Pulaski,
Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington, Wise and Wythe.

Of 29 seizures in the state this year, 22 were in Southwest Virginia,
according to Virginia State Police 1st Sgt. John Ruffin.

Washington County Sheriff Fred Newman said the increase was due to
better training and cooperation among police units in the region, as
well as an increase in the number of people making the drug in their
homes.

Last year, police said, most of the meth was coming into the region
from other parts of the country. Newman and Ruffin agreed that trend
can change according to supply.

Success in busting traffickers coming in from out of state has
translated into more labs.

"I think there's more people getting into the homemade
methamphetamine," Newman said. "The chemicals to make it are so
accessible."

The chemicals and equipment to make the drug, including glass jars,
starter fluid, decongestant and iodine, can be found at just about any
hardware store.

The labs are extremely dangerous. The manufacturing process involves
flammable liquid, explosive gas and poisonous fumes. Add in heat,
sometimes an open flame, to cook the ingredients, and you have a
recipe for disaster, a Drug Enforcement Administration agent said in
an earlier interview.

Stopping the spread of the drug is one reason seizing the labs is
crucial, police said. Another is to keep meth cookers from endangering
themselves and their neighbors.

Despite the efforts of law enforcement, the drug has spread
quickly.

By this time last year, 12 suspected labs had been seized. By
December, police said, they had uncovered 24 labs in the region, just
two more than the total so far this year.

"This meth is a very strong narcotic," Ruffin said. "With cocaine, you
may get a 20- to 30-minute high. With meth it lasts for hours. It's
very addictive."

Some parts of Southwest Virginia that have been plagued by the labs in
the past have had better luck this year.

Richard Stallard, coordinator for the Southwest Virginia Regional Drug
Task Force, said police in Wise, Lee, Dickenson and Scott counties
have seen little meth lab activity recently.

"Our investigations now are showing that a lot of meth is coming in
from out of the area," Stallard said. "As we've had luck in getting
rid of these cookers, people have been turning to people from outside
these counties and out of state." He said police there have also had
luck in putting "cooker teachers" in prison. Although there's
widespread information on how to make the drug on the Internet and in
books, meth cookers usually learn the process from someone else.

He said he's hopeful that police will have luck in shutting down the
supply of meth into the area, but he knows the consequences.

"I have no doubt that once we do that, we'll start seeing more labs
again," he said.

In Washington County, the solution continues to be cooperation and
tough policing, according to the sheriff.

"The State Police and the DEA people meet here in this office almost
daily," Newman said. "Once you identify something, you have to
aggressively pursue it to try to eliminate the problem."