AGENTS STEP UP OFFICER TRAINING ON HANDLING METH LABS

Bulloch County Sheriff's Deputies Have Found 25 Meth Labs Since
November 2000

The next time police officers respond to a routine traffic stop, burglary
or alarm call, they could stumble across a methamphetamine lab.

That's why Chatham-Savannah Counter Narcotics Team officers are teaming
with federal drug agents to step up officer training on how to detect and
handle meth labs.

The homemade stimulant -- also known as crystal meth, crank and speed --
has made its way into southeast Georgia, especially in rural areas. Bulloch
County sheriff's deputies have found 25 meth labs in farmhouses, trailers
and outbuildings since November 2000. Already this year, the U.S.
Attorney's Office in Savannah has handled twice as many meth cases as last
year.

The good part about clandestine methamphetamine labs is their toxic, sweet
smell can give them away. The bad part is meth ingredients -- including
Drano and cold medicine -- are as close as the nearest discount store,
making the drug entirely too easy to make, agents said.

"Methamphetamine is in your house, because you have most of the ingredients
to manufacture it in your house," said CNT Sgt. Butch Ward.

"I am still in awe that this is what goes into it and they take this stuff
knowing what goes into it."

The appeal of the dangerous drug, which sells from $120 a gram on the
street, is its energizing high that lasts longer than most illicit drugs,
agents said.

In the next few months, CNT and Drug Enforcement Administration agents plan
to hold safety trainings for officers from various agencies, as well as
motel employees, on how to spot and safely deal with meth labs. The labs
are showing up in vehicles and motel rooms, such as the one authorities
found in April while responding to a fire in a room at the Microtel Motel
at Interstate 95 and Ga. 204. Drug-making equipment caught fire in the tub.

Although no one was injured, the lab put the health and safety of motel
guests at risk, as well as the authorities who responded.

"The worst mistake an officer can make is going into a lab not knowing how
bad the chemicals actually are," said Bulloch County Sheriff's Lt. Rick
Rountree, head of the Bulloch County drug suppression team.

Public safety and crime reporter Anne Hart can be reached at ahart @
savannahnow.com or 652-0374.

Meth lab signs

Drug agents are asking employees of discount and housewares stores, as well
as motels, to be on the lookout for equipment and chemicals that indicate
meth labs. Call Crime Stoppers, anonymously, at 234-2020 or
Chatham-Savannah Counter Narcotics Team at 652-3900.

*Pyrex or Corning dishes, jugs, bottles, funnels

*coffee filters

*thermometer

*cheesecloths/paper towels

*blenders/hotplates

*propane cylinders

*ephedrine/pseudoephedrine cold tablets

*anhydrous ammonia (farm fertilizer)

*Red Devil lye

*lithium strips from batteries