OKLAHOMA, FEDS TAKE AIM AT METH

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Six wholesale distributors of pseudoephedrine -- a key
ingredient in methamphetamine -- were named Wednesday in a civil lawsuit
filed by the state.

One of the wholesalers, Thinh Quoc Kieu, also was hit with a three-count
federal indictment.

Kieu was accused of two methamphetamine-related offenses and of selling
phony tobacco tax stamps, said U.S. Attorney Robert McCampbell.

McCampbell said Oklahoma County ranks No. 1 in the nation in the number of
meth labs and the state as a whole is in the top four in per capita meth use.

The six wholesalers named in the lawsuit filed by Attorney General Drew
Edmondson operate in the Oklahoma City area and are among 35
pseudoephedrine wholesalers registered statewide with the Drug Enforcement
Agency.

Pseudoephedrine is legally sold as an ingredient in over-the-counter cold
medications.

The idea for the lawsuit developed after the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics
and Dangerous Drugs Control took evidence against the companies to the
attorney general.

Malcolm J. Atwood, director of the state drug enforcement agency, said
about 4,100 methamphetamine labs were seized statewide in Oklahoma from
1996 through June 2002.

The lawsuit accuses the wholesalers of civil conspiracy, negligence and
creating a public nuisance by selling large amounts of pseudoephedrine that
ended up in illegal labs.

It also allows violations of the Oklahoma Corrupt Organizations Prevention
Act, the state's equivalent to the federal RICO Act.

In addition to Kieu, the suit named Moore Services Inc. of Midwest City,
and Beck Services, Sun Distributing, Stevens Wholesale and Anna Wholesale,
all of Oklahoma City.

"This is the first state action of its kind in Oklahoma and perhaps the
nation," Edmondson said.