START ME UP! POLICE SEIZE THOUSANDS OF CANS OF STARTING FLUID

Pittsburg County Sheriff Jerome "Snookie" Amaranto paused after helping
load 283 cases of car starting fluid confiscated during a raid in McAlester
on Wednesday afternoon.

He wondered aloud why people who manufacture methamphetamine seem to have
such a hard time starting their vehicles.

"Every time we get to a lab, we find these starting fluid cans," quipped
Amaranto, who is well aware starting fluid is used in many formulas used to
manufacture methamphetamine.

Amaranto and Pittsburg County Undersheriff D.G. "Stoney" Stonecipher were
among a large group of law enforcement officers from federal, state and
county agencies who confiscated the starting fluid from a rental storage
facility in north McAlester.

With 12 cans in each of the 283 cases, the bust netted 3,396 cans of the
fluid, or 849 gallons.

The storage building in McAlester in which officers found the fluid had
been rented by a Stuart man, according to the sheriff's department.

No arrests were made in conjunction with the raid, authorized by a federal
search warrant. With a number of agencies cooperating on the investigation,
evidence concerning the case is expected to be presented to a federal grand
jury.

Authorities obtained the search warrant following a long-term investigation.

A large amount of pseudoephedrine, containing "hundreds of thousands of
dosage units," had been seized in a raid conducted weeks earlier connected
to the same investigation, according to a sheriff's spokesman.

Among those participating in the raid were the federal Drug Enforcement
Administration, the FBI, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous
Drugs, the Pittsburg County Sheriff's Department and the District 22
Narcotics Task Force, which includes Pontotoc, Seminole and Hughes counties.

Tom Cunningham is a member of the District 22 Task Force. Stuart, in Hughes
County, is in the task force's jurisdiction.

"The finished product goes into both jurisdictions," Cunningham said.

The local District 18 Narcotics Task Force had been involved in an earlier
phase of the investigation, according to Stonecipher.

One law enforcement officer alleged the starting fluid was connected to a
"large-scale operation."

Asked if he thought the raid would put a sizable dent in methamphetamine
production in the McAlester area, Amaranto said "no." He said those who
manufacture the illegal drug will find other sources for what they need, or
come up with different ways to manufacture it.

"This is what we deal with day after day," Amaranto said.