ARRESTS CONTINUE TO MUSHROOM

The Madness Of Meth - Part 2 of 5

If it seems like cops are busting methamphetamine labs every week in
south-central Minnesota, it's not just a perception.

The Le Sueur County Sheriff's Office collected a little meth and lots of
paraphernalia in the last year. Cold pill blister packs, boxes of matches,
coffee filters, glass jars and tanks of anhydrous ammonia are among the
items commonly found at meth lab sites.

The Le Sueur County Sheriff's Department found 22 meth labs and made 25
arrests in connection with meth manufacturing last year. A total of 104
arrests were made for drug-related crimes.

The Minnesota River Valley Drug Task Force, which is based in Mankato and
covers Blue Earth, Martin, Nicollet and Watonwan counties, busted 27 labs
in 2003.

And they're not alone.

"Every community's got this," Waterville Police Chief Max Venero said.
"It's like the plague."

Waterville officers make an average of six to eight arrests in connection
with meth-related crimes a month, Venero said. That number includes thefts
of tools and chemicals used to make meth as well as actual possession and
manufacture of the drug.

"I don't think there's a town anywhere that doesn't have it," Le Sueur
Police Chief Bruce Kelly said.

In 2002, there were more than 200 meth lab seizures in Minnesota. In 1995,
there were about 20.

"We're getting them just about weekly in traffic stops," said Deputy Jerry
Billiar of the Blue Earth County Sheriff's Department.

In the last few years - and especially since the "cold method" of meth
production using anhydrous ammonia became more common - Waseca County
Sheriff Tim Dann said he's seen meth use increase in his area.

"It's getting to be really heavy all over, I think," he said.

Drug of choice

Officials agree that meth has become many people's drug of choice because
it's cheap and accessible. Several Web sites offer ingredient lists and
step-by-step recipes.

"It's no different than getting a cookie recipe off the Internet, I guess,"
Dann said.

The ingredients to make meth are easy to get, too. Ephedrine, the active
ingredient in cold pills, is the main ingredient. Additives include iodine
crystals and red phosphorous, found in the striking strip on match boxes,
or anhydrous ammonia and lithium, respectively taken from farm fertilizers
and batteries.

Now some people spend most of their time buying or stealing the
ingredients, cooking them and selling meth, said Keith Frederick,
investigator for the Le Sueur County Sheriff's Department.

"It would appear that their full-time job is making meth, and that's what
they do all day, every day," he said.

"None of these guys ever passed chemistry in high school, and now they're
professors at making meth," Le Sueur County Sheriff Dave Gliszinski said.

Meth appeals to drug users because they don't have to wait for a plant to
grow or for a shipment to come in from Mexico, Dann said. Users can buy the
ingredients and make the meth themselves, or they can buy it from someone else.

Meth usually costs $100 to $150 per gram on the street and costs about $100
per ounce - about $3.57 per gram - to make.

Asking for backup

Meth-related arrests have increased substantially in Le Sueur County in the
last three years. In 2001, the sheriff's department found two meth labs and
made two arrests for manufacturing meth. The department seized 12 labs and
made 10 manufacturing arrests in 2002, and investigators found 22 labs and
made 25 manufacturing arrests last year.

Frederick said one reason the Le Sueur County Sheriff's Department has more
meth busts every year is because the deputies know what to look for. When
they stop a car and see jars, tanks and empty pill blister packs in the
back seat, they know to be suspicious of meth crimes.

"That and there are more to pick from," Frederick said.

For years he had been the primary investigator on all the county's meth
cases, keeping his hands full with evidence, paperwork and court time.
Frederick estimated he spends a minimum of 40 hours on every arrest made.
Because of the increase in meth crimes, the department added another
narcotics investigator at the beginning of this year to share Frederick's
workload.

"It's just too overwhelming for one individual," Gliszinski said.

And Frederick thinks there is plenty of work for two people to do.

"For every one we arrest, there's probably another dozen out there," he said.

An explosive chemical mix

Mix an over-the-counter drug, a common fertilizer and a few other chemicals
together, and what do you get?

You get an increasingly popular and addictive drug called methamphetamine,
otherwise known as meth, speed, crank, chalk, ice, zip, glass, tweak and
cristy.

Meth comes in many colors and forms, including rocks, pills, powder and
"ice." Clear, chunky ice is named for its resemblance to frozen water and
is the purest form of meth, Waseca County Sheriff Tim Dann said.

Most locally made meth is a white powder, said Keith Frederick,
investigator for the Le Sueur County Sheriff's Office.

Meth stimulates the body's central nervous system, producing a pleasurable
feeling. The high can last from four to 24 hours, depending on how it's put
into the body.

The main "ingredient" in the recipe for meth is ephedrine or
pseudoephedrine, the active ingredient in cold pills. Added to the mix
later are iodine crystals and red phosphorous or anhydrous ammonia and
battery acid. The solution also may include hydrochloric acid, drain
cleaner, propane, antifreeze and lye.

"You're really putting a lot of chemicals into your system," Dann said.
"They're not even organic chemicals."