METH LABS MOVING INTO RURAL AREAS, POLICE SAY

Paducah Officials Say Ingredients Often Stolen From Farmers

PADUCAH - After a brief sag in methamphetamine lab seizures in the
city, police are seeing meth producers moving to less crowded areas.

"We thought maybe things were getting better, but they really
weren't," said Detective Capt. Jon Hayden of the McCracken County
Sheriff's Department. "These people were going into the more rural
areas."

Meth producers have moved to surrounding counties, where they've
expanded the cooking process.

"They may do one part of the process here, go to a buddy's house and
do the other, and go to the woods and do the rest," Marshall County
Sheriff's Detective Russ Cagle said.

In rural areas, producers have easier access to anhydrous ammonia, a
key ingredient of the drug. Cagle said the biggest problem related to
meth that his department faces is the theft of anhydrous ammonia from
farmers, who use it lawfully to prepare soil for planting.

Methamphetamine has been a growing problem in Kentucky.

The number of meth labs seized in the state quadrupled from 1999 to
2002 from 84 to 300, according to figures from the federal Drug
Enforcement Agency. Most of these labs were seized in the western half
of Kentucky, though the eastern half also has seen a sharp rise.

Graves County Sheriff's Detective George Workman said most meth labs
there are mom-and-pop operations, making the drug for their own use.

Penalties for meth charges have stiffened in recent years. Possession
has been changed from a misdemeanor to a felony carrying a sentence of
10 to 20 years in prison. In 2000, state lawmakers made it easier for
police to arrest people who possess ingredients used in manufacturing
the drug.

But the state Supreme Court in June ruled that a defendant charged
with manufacturing the drug must have all the necessary equipment or
ingredients. That, some prosecutors say, has made charging suspects
more difficult.

McCracken County Commonwealth's Attorney Tim Kaltenbach said the
ruling requires that police find a working lab to prosecute someone.
Kaltenbach said that's a rare finding.