FERTILIZER THEFT FOR MAKING METH A GROWING ISSUE

Under the cover of darkness, a car with Pennsylvania plates creeps to
a stop beside a quiet field. An unscrupulous duo gets out, hands full
of duct tape, a re-rigged propane tank and a length of hose.

It's the tool kit of a meth miner.

They're searching for anhydrous ammonia, a nitrogen-based fertilizer
used by farmers on field crops. It is knifed 8 to 10 inches into the
soil to boost the growth of sweet corn and other field crops. However,
the life-giving anhydrous has a dark side, doubling as the key
catalyst in the production of the illegal drug methamphetamine.

Theft of the product is reaching near-epidemic levels in the Midwest;
some farming professionals estimate there is one theft a day. Locally,
Yates County and the rural areas surrounding Route 34 in Cayuga County
are becoming hotbeds for black market anhydrous trafficking.

"We've been involved in three known instances," said Yates County
Sheriff Ron Spike. "We had issues with it last year. We were involved
in three different high-speed chases where anhydrous ammonia was
possessed by individuals with intent to likely produce
methamphetamine."

Methamphetamine, or "meth," is a highly addictive stimulant made with
ingredients such as paint thinner, acetone and ephedrine. The granular
"upper" is produced using a process involving coffee filters,
stove-top grills, ether, pots, pans and pressure cookers. One of the
key ingredients is ether, which can be found in aerosol cans of
automobile starter fluid.

Transporting a carload of ether is like driving a bomb if involved in
an accident.

"A lot of these guys that steal are users themselves. They're so
desperate they've started to make meth in the trunk of the car," Spike
said. "A lot of that stuff is corrosive and highly flammable."

Spike indicated many of those arrested in Yates County have been from
the Waverly-Sayre area, north of Scranton, Pa.

"All of the guys we've picked up have been from that area," Spike
said. "There's such a problem down there most local police have a task
force with the state police. Cayuga County has had a lot of problems
because Route 34 runs right up from there."

A fertilizer distributor in Hall has been victimized a handful of
times, most recently on May 5. There was a large-scale bust in Phelps
when authorities cracked down on a tractor-trailer rig that had been
converted into a mobile lab.

Yates County Sheriff's deputies were involved in three high-speed
chases last year that revolved around anhydrous theft.

In one chase, deputies attempted to stop a speeding vehicle, but the
driver did not comply. The occupants dumped the car, got into another
vehicle and proceeded to flee again. Deputies eventually found the
suspects hiding in a cow pasture.

"In two incidents, they were going to put this stuff in propane
tanks," Spike said.

Anhydrous ammonia must be stored under pressure or at extremely low
temperatures. Liquid anhydrous ammonia will boil at 28 degrees below
zero, and the liquid turns to a gas during the cooling process, and
forms a cloud of water vapor. Water, in contrast, boils at 212 degrees
and freezes at 32 degrees F.

During one of the chases, Spike recalled, the suspects threw a thermos
out the window; a deputy who stopped to check it out was overcome by
fumes when the internal pressure popped the thermos open.

The deputy recovered but was on a ventilator for four hours with
inhalation burns to his throat and lungs and additional irritation to
his eyes.

"I did not like seeing my deputy in an ambulance," Spike said. "It can
cause blindness if you get a good shot of the stuff. They put it in
these propane tanks that can explode."

At the time of these incidents, stealing anhydrous ammonia was a
misdemeanor, punishable by only a fine. If a new bill is adopted in
the state Legislature, anhydrous ammonia thefts will be re-classified
as a Class E felony, with possible penalties including time in state
prison.