POLICE HOLD WORKSHOP ON METHAMPHETAMINE

The Cape Girardeau Police Department wants to expose as many people as it can to methamphetamine.

"The more awareness we create the more producers we're going to find," Cape Girardeau Police Chief Rick Hetzel said.

Hetzel co-sponsored a seminar Thursday morning at the Ozark Center to tell business owners what to look for when selling common products used in the production of the drug.

Hetzel said it would be a deterrent if a potential meth producer knows that the store clerk is noting their physical description, writing down their license plate or checking their identification when they purchase large quantities of the chemicals.

Sgt. Kevin Glaser of the Missouri State Highway Patrol said some of the attractions of making methamphetamine are how available the chemicals are and how cheaply they can be purchased. But if a customer is buying 15 or 20 packages of cold medicine at a time, "the alarm bells should be going off," he said.

Cold pills with decongestants, starter fluid, lithium batteries, alcohol and "liquid fire" drain cleaners are some of the products used to make methamphetamine. They are either ingredients in the drug or used in the cooking process.

Ether derived from the starter fluid and alcohol are flammable and have led to a number of meth labs being discovered after a fire.

Glaser, who is the commander of the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force, said police agencies try to work with businesses to find people who might produce the drug. Some people, like farmers who have a lot of machinery, do need to buy cases of starter fluid, but farmers are generally known to the seller.

If a stranger comes in and buys cases of starter fluid, the police would appreciate a call, Glaser said.

Wal-Mart has taken to limiting the number of some of these items that can be sold at one time. Lithium batteries, used by meth producers for their lithium strips, are targets of shoplifters, Glaser said. Wal-Mart has moved battery displays to the front of the store and put sensors on the packets, to reduce that problem.

Southeast Missouri is one of the most active areas in the country for meth production. The state identified 250 labs last year. That dwarfs the number of labs in surrounding states -- one in Southern Illinois, two in South Dakota, nine in Iowa and 39 in Kansas.

Glaser said Southeast Missouri has become a major producer of meth, probably for no other reason than someone who knew how to make the drug settled in the Poplar Bluff area and taught others how to make it. Because southern Missouri is so rural, some producers from California have been relocating to the area for more open spaces to set up labs.

"It just took off," Glaser said. "Someone taught people how to cook and they taught people and it just took off."

Glaser said a problem with meth users, and most meth producers are also hooked on the drug, is how well armed and paranoid they are. "They have guns and they will hurt you," he said.

Dr. Robert Briner, director of the Southeast Missouri Crime Lab, said meth is what was called "speed." It is an appetite suppressant and deprives the user of sleep. Manufacturers may be up for 72 hours at a time and can fall asleep during the cooking process. That's how many of the fires get started.

"Their whole life is make dope, sell dope, get high and that's all they do," Briner said.

Jim Govro, general manager of West Park Mall, was at the seminar to learn ways of heading off potential problems. He said the mall stocks many of the chemicals and has storage rooms that could be used as labs.

Govro was interested in ways to identify meth users and lab products. He said he might begin implementing better inventory procedures and train workers to look for items that might indicate a meth lab.

Briner said meth labs are highly portable and can be housed in the trunks of cars. Some things to look for are mason jars, coffee filters, electric skillets, plastic bottles with hoses attached and propane tanks.

Meth users are usually emaciated, nervous or hyperactive, lack an interest in personal hygiene and may have sores on their faces and arms, he said.

A batch of methamphetamine can also be produced in less than two hours.

Hetzel said information is one way to head off meth producers.

"We want people who are thinking about doing this to think twice," he said.