DRUG AGENT SAYS METH LABS MAY SPREAD, EXPAND PRODUCTION

Mobile 'Rolling Labs' Are More Difficult For Officers to Find

Most of the drugs produced in West Virginia's growing number of clandestine
methamphetamine laboratories are for recreational use rather than for
massive resale, law enforcement officials say.

But a federal official believes the drug may one day be produced in the
Mountain State in much larger quantities.

Drug Enforcement Administration agent Jeff Wallenstrom didn't pull any
punches when asked recently if meth labs operating in the state would ever
be like Mexico or California, producing in 100-pound batches.

"I would say they will," Wallenstrom said.

Meth first made the radar in West Virginia in the late 1990s, Wallenstrom
said. More and more labs have started cropping up over the last year and half.

According to statistics provided by the agency, 13 labs were busted in
2001, but the number jumped to 58 in 2002. Some state officials have put
that number as high as 100.

Wallenstrom said the problem is concentrated in Kanawha, Putnam and Wood
counties.

"It really became apparent three or four years ago in Wood County,"
Wallenstrom. "It started to hit down here over the last year, year and
half. It could have potentially been here on a small scale, but law
enforcement hadn't really recognized it as serious problem."

Meth was first reported in the late 1960s. It was known as "crank" because
the bikers that cooked it and shared recipes carried it in the crankcases
of their motorcycles. It started on the West Coast, and over the next 30
years, began moving east.

Law enforcement officials say a specialist in meth production, known as a
cook, taught two people how to make the drug in Wood County about five
years ago. Since then, different generations of cooks have passed the
technique on to others. The recipes also are available on the Internet and
most of the ingredients can be purchased in department and hardware stores.

A meth lab can be set up anywhere, including barns, storage areas, hotel
rooms, trailers and basements. Some cooking techniques do not require heat,
making it difficult for law enforcement officers to locate the drug
operations, Wallenstrom said.

Often, the chemicals and tools used to cook can be easily transported from
one place to another. It happens so often, that some labs have become known
as "rolling" labs.

"Labs are small and can be contained in 10-gallon storage containers. You
can just throw that in the back of your car. That's what makes it so
difficult for law enforcement officers to locate labs. They're mobile. They
may be there one hour and gone the next," Wallenstrom said.

However, the chemicals used in some of the process are toxic and highly
flammable and, often, as Wallenstrom puts it "meth labs blow up."

The chemicals can burn skin. The fumes given off by a cooking batch of meth
are often toxic and can adversely affect the respiratory system.

Meth is not thought to be physically addictive, but Wallenstrom said users
can get hooked.

"In my 10 years of working, I've only seen one person remove themselves
from the drug and I've knows hundreds of people (who abused it),"
Wallenstrom said.

Meth may not have the physical withdrawal symptoms of heroin or cocaine,
but it's very difficult for a user to stop, he said.

Because the drug is a stimulant, those who use it will stay awake for
hours, sometimes in excess of three days. Paranoia, erratic behavior and
lack of proper nutrition are some of the effects meth has on a user. Meth
users often develop a rash from scratching their skin to a point where it
bleeds because they think bugs are crawling on them.

Wallenstrom scoffs at the idea that drug abuse is a "victimless crime."

Police have raided labs where children have been playing in the same room
with beakers full of materials that could cause severe burns if someone
came into contact with them, he said. Because parents who cook meth are
likely to abuse the drug, they are often times more focused on getting high
than paying attention to their kids.

To combat the scourge of labs, Wallenstrom said, law enforcement officers,
including federal, state and county agencies, have started to share
information more freely.

Kasey Warner, U.S. attorney for Southern West Virginia, cautioned that
indicators of meth labs include strong chemical odors like ammonia, ether
and acetones; blacked-out windows; renters who only pay in cash; and
excessive amounts of trash, marked by large amounts of anti-freeze, drain
cleaner and clear glass containers.

Warner also said meth cooks likely will purchase large amounts of ephedrine
cold medication, alcohol, muriatic acid, iodine, matches, lye, salt, drain
cleaner, acetone and toluene.

Items in a meth lab could include glass containers, funnels, coffee
filters, a blender, rubber tubing, paper towels, rubber gloves, gas cans,
tapes, clamps, hotplates, strainers, aluminum foil and propane cylinders,
he said.

During a recent news conference conducted with the federal drug agency and
the State Police, Warner said his office would consider bringing federal
charges against people who manufacture meth.

The effort to locate and dismantle labs is a "community effort,"
Wallenstrom said. He encouraged people to be aware of suspicious activity
in their neighborhoods, such as an acrid, chemical smell or a large number
of different people going in and out of a certain house.

Wallenstrom also cautioned storeowners and employees to be aware of what
people are buying and the quantities they purchase it in.