ILLEGAL DRUG LAB USE ON RISE IN AREA

BLUEFIELD - Local law enforcement have a new weapon in their arsenal
against an epidemic rapidly invading southern West Virginia and Southwest
Virginia.

With the popularity of clandestine laboratories (also known as
methamphetamine labs) on the rise and rapidly moving across the state, a
new law recently enacted by the Legislature states that any person who
operates or attempts to operate a clandestine drug laboratory in West
Virginia is guilty of a felony, and will face not less than two years and
no more than 10 years in prison if convicted.

Law enforcement across the state has dismantled more than 100 labs in the
past six months. The labs can be assembled in basements, garages and even
vehicles, and are highly treacherous. They are used for the purpose of
manufacturing methamphetamine or lysergic acid diethylamide.

"It's starting to make its way into our area," Mercer County Prosecuting
Attorney Bill Sadler said. "We've had about two that I know of in the last
year. One was an actual lab, and one was someone making an inquiry about
starting a lab, or getting the necessary chemicals for making a lab."

Sadler said the epidemic first hit the Parkersburg area, and is now moving
south.

"They can haul this in a vehicle," Sadler, now president of the state
Prosecu-ting Attorney's Association, said. "They can do it in a house.
These can be somewhat mobile. The problem law enforcement has with them is
the chemicals can be very flammable. They are dangerous to law enforcement
when they approach these. That was the reason behind the West Virginia
Prosecutor's Association requesting the new law. We went to the Legislature
last year and asked them to pass this."

The illegal use of methamphetamine labs also is on the rise in Southwest
Virginia, Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Ramseyer said.

"It's been a serious problem for several years," Ramseyer said. "With meth
labs, it is a problem, and it's becoming more significant. It seems to have
started in the western part of Virginia and it is moving further east. We
are seeing it more and more in the eastern part of Southwest Virginia. It's
everywhere now in Southwest Virginia."

Although no labs have been confiscated in Tazewell County, officials
believe they are in use, Richlands Police Chief William Puckett, also a
member of the Tazewell County Narcotics Task Force, said.

"We've seized no labs here, but we know it's here," Puckett said. "But we
aren't going to comment on any current or active investigation."

Puckett said officers with the Richlands Police Department are now being
trained on how to respond to a potential methamphetamine lab.

"They could be in basements, labs and closets, and most of them are
mobile," Puckett said. "It's a very dangerous situation for police. They
are so dangerous. Once you execute warrants, you have the risk of
explosions. As a matter of fact, we've been trying to get everyone in our
department trained on them."