TOP DEA OFFICIAL IN CAPE COUNTY TO DISCUSS METH

It's a dubious distinction, but one brought to the forefront by a visit
from the top official in the Drug Enforcement Administration: Missouri is
now the methamphetamine capital of the United States.

"The numbers reflect that there is a problem in Missouri," DEA
administrator Asa Hutchinson told a room full of law enforcement officials
Monday at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport. "But they also show you're
working hard and making a dent in the problem."

Missouri had been second to California for the past several years, but that
changed in 2001, when there were 2,130 meth labs found in the state. That's
415 more than in now second-place California.

In Cape Girardeau County, there were 68 meth labs found in 2001, in Scott
County, there were 32, in Bollinger there were 11 and in Perry there were six.

Hutchinson has launched a national methamphetamine awareness tour that will
take him to 30 states over the next three months to discuss each state's
meth problems.

Hutchinson was invited to Southeast Missouri by U.S. Sen. Kit Bond. The
round-table discussion was attended by more than 50 police, prosecutors and
politicians.

"Cocaine and heroin are bad, but meth is in an arena by itself," Hutchinson
said. "And it's more than the labs you folks are finding. There's a whole
lot of meth going up and down that highway."

Law enforcement's main concern seemed to be a lack of manpower to battle
the ever-growing problem.

"Meth is the worst problem our county has ever had, and I've been sheriff
for 25 years," said Scott County Sheriff Bill Ferrell. "If I had the
people, we could bust a meth lab a day, but there's not enough manpower or
dollars to do it. You have to do them as you can."

Anhydrous stolen

Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle said if police
were stationed where there is anhydrous ammonia -- a key ingredient to
making meth -- at least half a dozen people could be caught every night.
"It's just like foxes at the hen house," he said. "They come in and try to
steal it all night long."

In the past two years, Bond helped secure $5.6 million in federal funds to
be distributed directly to 33 Missouri sheriff's offices and 16 law
enforcement task forces that serve more than one county.

Too many restrictions

Police expressed gratitude for the money, but said it often comes with too
many restrictions.

"There seems to be a growing emphasis on cutting back," said Sgt. Kevin
Glaser, supervisor of the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force. "They are now
wanting to limit the amount of money we can use for overtime. We can use it
for equipment, which is great. But if I don't have the people, there's no
one to use the equipment."

Hutchinson said the best way to implement change is to keep their concerns
on the table.

"People are listening," he said. "Keep talking."

Bond said Missouri earned this "sad distinction" because of its location in
the middle of the country.

"We became a draw for methamphetamine cookers, distributors, dealers and
smugglers," he said. "That has to change."