FOUR ARRESTED WITH METH INGREDIENTS

Four men were charged with planning to make methamphetamine after they purchased cold tablets, starter fluid and other items at Wal-Mart, a Cape Girardeau police officer said.

About 8:40 p.m. on Tuesday, security personnel at the Wal-Mart Superstore at 3439 William St. contacted police about four men who were purchasing items commonly used to manufacture methamphetamine, Cpl. Kevin Orr said.

The four purchased the items and walked to a green Chevrolet Cavalier in the parking lot as security personnel followed them. As they drove out of the parking lot, police were given a description of the car and it's license plate, Orr said.

Officer Dan Seger spotted the car traveling east on William Street and followed it northbond onto Interstate 55. As it approached the overpass for Hopper Road, Seger turned on his lights to get the vehicle to pull off the road.

Seger spoke with the driver, Richard Lynn Reed, 42, but had trouble understanding him. As they spoke, Seger noticed one of the three passengers making a motion as if hiding something under his seat.

A search of the car turned up several blister packs of pseudoephedrine, a cold tablet and common ingredient in methamphetamine. The two cans of starter fluid and other items were not hidden, Orr said.

The four men were cooperative with police, Orr said.

Arrested were Michael Lynn Allen, 20, Dustin Andrew Leimbach, 18, Aaron Matthew Amschler, 18, and Reed. Allen, Reed and Leimbach are from Perryville, Mo., and Amschler is from Ste. Genevieve, Mo.

All four were charged with possession of chemicals with intent to produce methamphetamine, a class C felony punishable by up to 7 years in jail.

Police would not say how many packets of pseudoephedrine the men purchased.

Area businesses will call police "every so often" when large amounts of cold tablets containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine are purchased, Orr said.

In 1997, Wal-Mart entered into a partnership with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration to limit nationwide the sale of ephedrine-based cold tablets. The stores have limited the sale of the tablets to three or six containers depending on the size or quantity of the container.

The prevalence of methamphetamine occurs largely because its ingredients are common and can be purchased legally, law enforcement officials say.