METH LABS PROLIFERATE IN THE WEST

57th Setup This Year Found In Shelby Bust

SHELBY - Cleveland County sheriff's officers secured warrants for the
arrests of a Shelby couple Tuesday after discovering a methamphetamine lab
in their home.

The bust in this small Piedmont city is part of a growing trend across the
state, said N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper.

"We're seeing an explosion in secret drug labs that make methamphetamine,"
said Cooper. "It's a critical problem that's come to North Carolina. Most
people don't know about it. But they will soon."

The number of known N.C. meth labs increased tenfold between 2000 and 2002,
rising from nine to 98 found by the FBI, Cooper said.

In 2003, the FBI has discovered 57 labs across the state, mostly in the
western part of the state.

Officers Monday found chemicals possibly used to make the drug in the
Shelby home of Thomas John Crance and Michelle Sue Crance on Maple Springs
Church Road. Officials with the FBI Tuesday confirmed the materials were
part of a meth lab.

Methamphetamine is a popular drug because it's cheap and easy to make.
Ingredients, including chemicals extracted from cold medicine and paint
thinner, are found at grocery stores, and instructions to make it are on
the Internet.

The drug, which can be smoked, snorted, injected or swallowed, produces a
high that can last 12 hours.

Meth labs especially concern law enforcement officials because they can be
a public hazard. Mixing the chemicals incorrectly can cause an explosion.

Until about 2000, officials said, the drug was mostly imported into North
Carolina by drug traffickers from the West and Midwest, where it has been
most widely used and manufactured.

Since that time, however, counties throughout Western North Carolina have
reported dozens of labs found in homes and vehicles.

"The flood gates have opened here," said Paula Townsend, chief deputy
sheriff of Watauga County.

She said meth labs were extremely uncommon there until recently. So far in
2003, 16 have been discovered.

"For several years we've seen methamphetamine being brought here by
tractor-trailers from the West," Townsend said. "Now everybody and his
brother are learning how to make it ... We call it the redneck cocaine."

Most of the recent N.C. busts have uncovered what law enforcement officials
call "mom-and-pop" labs that produce a few pounds of the drug at a time,
said Capt. Keith Dinkins of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department's
vice and narcotics unit.

Meth labs have not yet become common in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, police said.
Three labs have been found in the county in 10 years.

They last investigated such a lab in late February. It was found in a
mobile home on Moores Chapel Road in western Mecklenburg, Dinkins said.

Cleveland County sheriff's officers found chemicals used for making
methamphetamine Monday when they accompanied a probation officer on a
routine visit to the Crances' home, according to Lt. Joel Shores of the
department.

Thomas John Crance, 30, was put on probation last month after he was
convicted of manufacturing methamphetamine in his home, Shores said.

Tuesday morning, officials from the N.C. division of the FBI discovered at
least six jars of chemicals used to make methamphetamine and one ounce of
methamphetamine oil, Shores said.

He also said the Crances will be charged with multiple felonies in
connection with the lab bust, including manufacturing and possession of a
controlled substance. Sheriff's officers expect to serve the warrants
against the Crances today, Shores said.

Thomas Crance was charged with parole violation and booked into the
Cleveland County jail Tuesday, Shores said.

Michelle Sue Crance, 37, is staying with family in Cleveland County, Shores
said.