METHAMPHETAMINE LABS MORE COMMON

Police Say Labs Are A Growing Problem In State

The manufacture and use of methamphetamine is a growing problem in West
Virginia. The ingredients to make the illegal stimulant are easily bought
in stores. The recipe for the volatile mixture can be found on the Internet.

"The problem is that it is getting easier to make," said Lt. Steve Neddo of
the Metro Drug Unit.

Though authorities said the majority of the methamphetamine in the Kanawha
Valley has been mailed in, the number of personal meth labs is increasing.

"The little guy who is cooking it in the back kitchen? Yeah, that's on the
increase," Neddo said.

"We're getting more and more," he said.

As the problem grows, awareness has grown too, he said. The drug unit is
getting more tips from chemical companies and stores that alert police when
large amounts of certain chemicals are sold and from neighbors who notice
strange chemical odors that may indicate the presence of a meth lab, he said.

The chief of detectives for the South Charleston Police Department, Lt.
G.E. Amburgey, said he recently sent two officers to Missouri for training
on how to disassemble meth labs.

"In the last six months it has really taken over," he said, adding that an
instructor in Missouri told the officers to that more troubles with meth
were probably on the way.

"The instructor said 'Get ready,' " Amburgey said.

State Police Trooper J.M. Cyphers of the South Charleston detachment said
he recently busted three meth labs in four weeks. One was uncovered because
of an odor coming out of the garage at an Elkview residence, he said.

He said the Elkview lab was meant for personal use, not to manufacture
methamphetamine for sale.

"The people that are dealing a lot of methamphetamine are getting it
shipped in," Cyphers said. Law enforcement officials say most of the labs
found in the county are for personal use, with only a portion of the drug
being sold.

Cyphers estimated that a dealer could make about $2,400 from a batch of
methamphetamine, which is between three and four ounces. But most cookers
would use three-quarters of the meth and just sell the remaining one
fourth, he said.

Besides posing a threat to law-enforcement when they are booby-trapped, the
labs are dangerous on their own. The chemicals used in the production of
the drug are flammable, and lately a number of the meth labs that have been
discovered by officers have been in the back of cars.

"Any time where you have a mixture of chemicals and someone who is not a
chemist transporting them, it is dangerous," said Cpl. Tony Payne of the
Metro Drug Unit.

Methamphetamine is a powerful stimulant that can keep users up for days,
Payne said. While on that high users can become violent.