TASK FORCE SAYS IT'S MAKING PROGRESS AGAINST METH PROBLEM

CLINTON -- Over the course of the past year, Anderson County authorities
have learned more than they ever wanted to know about methamphetamine.

They've learned how the drug is made in clandestine labs, they've had to
deal with wave after wave of meth addicts surging into the county's
overcrowded jail and they've seen firsthand the effects on children who are
caught between their parents and the drug.

"You can find labs anywhere," said Anderson County Sheriff Bill White.
"We've found them in abandoned school buses, houses, cars, out in the
woods, in coolers and in duffel bags. They can set their thing up in
anything, as long as they have all the ingredients necessary and the items
to mix them in."

As bad as the problem seems, however, authorities claim to have made
progress in the struggle against meth through a combination of strict law
enforcement, public outreach and training programs.

"We've seen a concentrated effort from social agencies, law enforcement and
(law enforcement agencies) coming together to combat the methamphetamine
problem," said U.S. Attorney Russ Dedrick, who oversees federal
prosecutions in the Eastern District of Tennessee.

"We've looked at not only investigating and training, but we've also been
sensitizing judges to the problem," he continued. "We're inviting schools,
businesses, chambers of commerce, to become partners. ... We think we're
beginning to see results."

At the heart of the initiative is the South/East Tennessee Methamphetamine
Task Force, a joint effort comprised of local, state and federal agencies
working together with a common goal: to do everything in their power to
curb the spread of the drug while educating the public about its dangers.

Formed in 1999 to address the problem in rural areas to the west of
Chattanooga, the task force has since been expanded to 41 counties,
including all of East Tennessee.

According to sheriffs throughout the region, the task force has literally
saved lives in a number of ways. It provides training to officers who have
to respond to meth labs, it covers the lab clean-up costs using funds from
the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and it serves as a centralized
point for information gathering.

"Prior to January, we weren't part of the drug task force and we weren't
trained in lab detection," White said. "There could have been meth here
somewhere, but we really weren't aware of it until we became familiar with
what to look for. Now, we've been continuing our training to keep up to
date on what's happening with these labs."

Anderson County now has five officers who are "lab certified," meaning they
are trained to detect and deal with a lab until a cleanup crew arrives. So
far this year they've found 45 of the labs hidden in virtually every part
of the county.

"We haven't had to pay for any training with county funds," White said.

Hazardous duty According to White's chief deputy, Lewis Ridenour, the
deputies who must respond to suspected meth labs are taking their lives in
their hands every time they do so.

"We're seeing an increase in firearms, in booby traps, and in children in
labs," Ridenour said. "The SWAT team has been going through meth entry
search warrants. ... We're seeing a lot of high-risk entries now."

Thanks to a $220,000 federal grant the department received earlier this
year, deputies assigned to the agency's drug task force are now able to
afford the kind of protective equipment deemed essential when entering a
suspected lab.

For instance, the new equipment includes a pair of $5,000 respirators and
hazardous material suits, which allow deputies to secure the most dangerous
lab sites while awaiting the arrival of one of the DEA-funded cleanup teams.

"Different labs pose different hazards," Ridenour said. "Some of them
require self-contained breathing apparatus. ... It's quite cumbersome
working in those suits, dealing with things you want to spill over because
they react with other chemicals. Plus, if the weather's hot, they burn you up."

As uncomfortable as the cleanup operations are, the risks of not being
fully prepared when entering a lab should never be underestimated,
officials say.

"A meth lab is a highly toxic, dangerous situation and I can't
overemphasize that," Dedrick said. "We've literally have had people just
fall over dead from the toxic gases produced."

One particularly gruesome example came in a remote area of Hawkins County
last year, when two men were killed and a third critically injured when
their meth lab exploded in a trailer.

Tony L. Kinsler, 47, of Bean Station, died when he and two alleged
co-conspirators, David E. Lee and Phillip Long, both also 47, triggered an
explosion while making a batch of meth using anhydrous ammonia.

Kinsler's body was dragged from the trailer and buried nearby, and the two
survivors returned to the trailer. The fumes inside, however, overcame them
two days later and Long died in the bathroom. Lee eventually called E-911
and had to undergo weeks of medical treatment.

Another man sustained serious burns in March during a meth-related flash
fire in Clinton, according to Clinton Police Chief Rick Scarbrough.

Although three meth labs have been found in the city limits -- two of them
discovered because of fires that erupted -- Scarbrough said most of the
activity seems to be in the county's rural areas.

"Meth arrests are very rare," he said. "Most of what we see are marijuana
and crack cocaine, and even those are somewhat isolated to an individual
community."

While Anderson and Cumberland counties seem to be bearing the brunt of the
epidemic thus far, counties to the north and east are also seeing an
increase in meth busts.

In Hamblen County, for example, sheriff's deputies have taken down 12 meth
labs during the past 12 months, including five that were discovered in one
week, said Lt. Mike Hayes of the Hamblen County Sheriff's Department.

"We just started getting information on the labs and the arrests started
happening," Hayes said. "Public involvement is very important -- the public
will see and hear a lot more than we hear and see. They're out there
smelling their neighborhoods."

For the most part the clandestine labs that worry law enforcement agencies
are run by meth addicts seeking to feed their own addictions. While many of
them might sell small quantities to help pay the bills or buy more of the
ingredients, large-scale production and distribution isn't the goal.

"Most of the ones making it are keeping it to themselves," Hayes said.
"There's not a lot of it on the streets."

Cracking down

Although the majority of people arrested for meth are users or addicts, one
of the largest federal drug takedowns in recent years occurred in September
with a series of raids in Knoxville and Morristown. The operation -- dubbed
"Westward Ho" -- led to the indictment of 34 people in connection with a $5
million drug ring that was allegedly smuggling methamphetamine, cocaine and
marijuana from Texas to Tennessee.

Many of the suspects were Hispanic, and only about a half-dozen of them can
speak English.

According to Greg Aguilar, a Hispanic community leader in Morristown, there
is little or no meth problem in the bustling immigrant community that
provides much of the agricultural work force in upper East Tennessee.
Aguilar, a professional interpreter, works for the Hamblen County court
system as well local industries and medical facilities.

While he said he's seen alcohol and marijuana use among Hispanics, using
harder drugs is anathema to their culture.

"Alcohol is the really bad problem," he said. "It's a killer."

Aguilar blames the community's perception that immigrants are responsible
for much of the drug trade on a few bad apples and locals who have learned
how to prey on the newcomers as "mules."

"The problem is, they come up here to provide for their families," he said.
"They see it as quick, easy money when it's presented to them ... I think
the Americans in this area have found easy targets."

Ridenour said he's a big believer in severe criminal penalties for meth
addicts and welcomes a new law that allows suspects to be prosecuted for a
felony if they possess meth-making equipment or chemicals.

Dedrick said that federal authorities try to focus on individuals making
large amounts of meth, which subjects them if convicted to minimum
mandatory sentences.

"All these individuals are subject to going to prison," he said. "We have
no parole or probation. ... We try to screen out only those involved in
large quantities to get them off the streets. It's not unusual, on the
federal side, to see sentences of 10, 20 or 30 years or even life in prison
based on the quantity or past histories of the individuals involved."