DRUG LABS AN EXPANDING S.C. HAZARD

Rising Raids Pose Danger To Officers

Methamphetamine producers are setting up labs at alarming rates around
South Carolina, and the trend shows no sign of slowing.

Police found more than 130 meth labs statewide in fiscal year 2003 -
October to September - compared with eight in 2001, state Drug Enforcement
Administration officials said.

"There has been a dramatic increase in meth labs in South Carolina," said
Freddie Bradshaw, resident agent in charge at the DEA office in Florence.

Most are found in the Upstate. The fewest are in the coastal regions from
Charleston to the Grand Strand, police officials said.

Police in Horry County and neighboring Brunswick County, N.C., have found a
handful of labs in the past few years.

Horry County police found one meth lab in Garden City Beach last year and
made at least three arrests.

None has been found in the county this year, said Sgt. Rick Bonney of Horry
County police's narcotics division.

But last Sunday, a state trooper found potentially explosive materials used
to make meth in a car he stopped on S.C. 9. A Kansas man and his passenger
were arrested.

That arrest, which Horry County officials said is not an indicator of a
huge meth infiltration, is a reminder for them to be alert.

Myrtle Beach police found no labs this year, but a potential lab - meaning
the chemicals and/or equipment - was discovered in North Myrtle Beach
earlier this year, police said.

Nationally, the labs are moving to the east from the west and midwest,
where they have been concentrated, Bradshaw said.

Police have arrested people around the state since 1980 for possession and
sale of the addictive stimulant, but the recent and rapid increase in labs
has become a major concern, said John Ozaluk, who oversees all DEA offices
in South Carolina.

"We think the number of labs will continue to increase," he said.

The growth of meth in the state may be linked to the availability of
recipes on the Internet, although many of the cooks, the people who make
the drug, also learn how to do it by word-of-mouth, Ozaluk said.

The ingredients are easy to get from a local department store, and there is
great profit potential in meth.

"Most people here only make a few ounces of meth at a time," he said,
compared with California, where labs often produce 50 pounds at once.

"It's a cycle here where people make a little, sell it to people they know,
then use the money to make more," Ozaluk said.

Police have tried to combat the problem with enforcement and education of
officers and the public.

An increasing number of officers statewide, including in Myrtle Beach and
Horry County, have been taught how to identify a potential lab.

The officers learn about the materials used to make meth and the signature
odor - similar to rotten eggs - that the labs give off.

Explosions are the most dangerous hazard associated with the making of the
drugs, Ozaluk said.

Lab explosions have injured several officers, including a Greenville
officer who was hurt when a glass container exploded in his face.

In some cases, the state Department of Social Services has had to remove
children from homes where labs were found, Ozaluk said.

The materials used in the labs are so hazardous they demand the presence of
a DEA or DEA-trained agents to properly handle the hazardous materials and
their cleanup, he said.

About methamphetamine

What it is | A central nervous system stimulant.

Other names | The smokable form is a drug of abuse and is referred to as
crank, crystal, crystal meth, ice and speed.

How it's made | It is made in clandestine labs, often in remote areas, and
is inexpensive and addictive.

Ingredients | Those commonly used to make it include over-the-counter cold
and asthma medications containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine,
hydrochloric acid, drain cleaner, battery acid, lye and antifreeze.