Cooperative investigations of methamphetamine laboratories.

Methamphetamine (meth) use has become more prevalent in the United States. The number of clandestine laboratories seized nationwide by DEA rose by over 500 percent between 1994 and 2000 and continued growing in 2005. (1) The Midwest has seen this trend as well; in fact, crystal meth dominates the market. (2) Despite the dangers it poses, this drug started to gain popularity when it became "easier to get and easier to use. When it was introduced, methamphetamine had to be injected." (3) However, a few adjustments resulted in "crystal meth that could be smoked or snorted. Not only was the new form of the drug easier to use, it was also cheaper and easier to make, and it offered ... a more intense high for less money." (4)

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Like the rest of its region, Ohio has seen meth activity rise rapidly. Not far from the state's leading area for laboratory recoveries lies the jurisdiction of the Medina Police Department. Wary of the spread of this dangerous drug, the agency strives to control the problem in its city. Recently, it successfully handled the dismantling of a laboratory without injury to any residents, suspects, or responding personnel. Such results depend on careful planning and cooperative working relationships between all agencies involved.

Preliminary Considerations

Throughout the volatile process of producing methamphetamine, the toxic chemicals used present a risk of fire and explosion. People who make this drug endanger not only themselves but also those in close proximity. This can include, for example, children or other coinhabitants of the suspect, neighbors in a multiunit complex, or, perhaps, drivers sharing the roadway with a person transporting a mobile laboratory in a vehicle or carrying it in a backpack while walking.

Of course, authorities, particularly the specially trained investigators who execute searches, face numerous safety concerns. (5) Law enforcement agencies need to ensure that these officers have protection from hazardous material exposure yet remain agile enough to contain and apprehend uncooperative suspects. The danger continues for investigators who conduct evidence gathering, documentation, and disposal of vast amounts of hazardous waste, as well as medical and other responding personnel. To complicate matters, many departments have not dealt with such situations previously.

These investigations require readiness and coordination between entities that include police and fire departments, medical units, appropriate state agencies, and DEA. Law enforcement personnel must ensure that they plan for every contingency. For example, situations involving children require arrangements with a family services agency; also, youths may need a medical clearance to ensure that they have not been exposed to hazardous chemicals or drug vapors. Other instances may involve pets, thus requiring contact with animal control personnel.

Information Sources

Educating and, thus, empowering the community provides law enforcement agencies with valuable sources of information pertaining to suspected methamphetamine laboratories. For instance, the Medina Police Department has distributed posters and aired programs on local cable television to inform the public of the dangers of meth and the components necessary for the drug's production. Personnel also have sent letters to retailers asking them to place cold tablets containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine--two ingredients commonly used--behind the pharmacy counters and to limit sales to no more than two packs per customer. Also, the agency has held seminars to educate retailers and rental managers and maintenance personnel on the common chemicals and equipment typically used in a meth lab.

Providing such knowledge to employees in rental facilities, for instance, has proven effective because these individuals, in the course of performing their duties (e.g., inspections and repairs), encounter contraband, paraphernalia, and drug-producing supplies and alert the police. These citizens have received instruction on the dangers of methamphetamine laboratory operations and the significant risks they pose to the producers, people living nearby, and law enforcement. (6)

Identification of a clandestine lab can come in a variety of ways. Perhaps, police may make the discovery in the course of their duties, or fire departments may find it while responding to a blaze or explosion. Or, authorities may receive tips from informants or the community at large. (7)

Once officers have received information regarding a suspected meth lab operation, they must begin to develop probable cause for a search warrant affidavit. For instance, trash pulls may prove useful--investigators may find an unusual amount of matchbooks with the tips scraped off, a large number of cold tablet packages for an average household, or kitty litter used in an apartment where pets are not permitted. Officers also may notice a variety of persons who visit the location but do not live there, ventilation fans operating, strong odors emanating from the dwelling, little or no furniture inside, or the occupants vacating the residence to smoke. (8) Additionally, investigators can speak with neighboring residents, if trustworthy, for observations that could help establish probable cause. Officers also should consider other worthwhile pursuits--for example, a criminal history check of occupants under suspicion may reveal a prior history of narcotics violations.

The case handled by the Medina Police Department began with a reliable informant who recently had seen methamphetamine cooking in an apartment. A criminal history check of the male occupant showed two prior convictions for possession of the drug. Subsequently, officers conducted surveillance on the residence. During this, they observed the man's wife, who had a suspended license, drive away in the family vehicle. Police followed her until a marked car executed a traffic stop. They arrested her for driving while under suspension, and a subsequent search of her purse revealed methamphetamine. Investigators interviewed her, and she admitted that her husband had a supply of the drug and that he cooked it in the apartment for their personal use. Officers also noticed a strong odor of chemicals consistent with meth production, along with apparent lab paraphernalia, in the car. With all of this information added to the affidavit, the Medina Police Department established probable cause and obtained a search warrant for the residence.

Search Procedures

Search warrant service at clandestine meth labs differs from other narcotics searches and requires greater ingenuity, planning, and preparation. "Raids conducted on clandestine drug laboratories are inherently dangerous, irrespective of the dangers associated with taking suspects into custody. The degree of danger is based largely on the types of chemicals ... typically used and the processes employed. These dangers may be heightened by the operator's lack of expertise and experience...." (9)

Generally, agencies use a tactical team to quickly enter and control narcotics suspects before they can flee or destroy evidence. However, this is not realistic in situations involving suspected methamphetamine labs. In these instances, officers do not want to alarm occupants, thereby causing them to knock over volatile items--they also want to avoid doing this themselves. Further, departments must preplan the removal of children, pets, and other occupants. The safety of everyone affected by the situation requires careful consideration. Fire and medical personnel should be nearby to move in once the location is secure. Anyone entering the area must wear protective clothing and sufficient breathing equipment. And, once they have finished at the scene, authorities must have contact numbers for the manager or rental agent.

Numerous officers have experienced health problems from dealing with such labs without adequate protection. "While law enforcement officers in the Midwest have seen a dramatic increase in meth laboratories recently, their West Coast counterparts have been battling the labs for decades. With simple lack of knowledge to blame, police officers investigating meth labs in the 1980s and 1990s would rush into lab scenes to make arrests and photograph, document, and collect evidence with absolutely no protective gear.... There are more and more documented cases of ... aftereffects, some taking years to surface, some surfacing immediately.... While the exact long-term exposure consequences have not been definitely determined ... experts agree ... that any exposure to an active or recently active scene of a meth lab carries a risk for short- and long-term medical problems." (10)

In lieu of using a tactical team in its own investigation, the Medina Police Department opted to contact the husband, who was in the apartment with the family's three young children. Officers advised him that they had his wife in custody for driving under suspension and that he should come to the department. He declined, advising that she had the only car and that he needed to stay home with the children. Later, he refused when an officer called back to offer him a ride.

In the meantime, agency personnel already had begun coordinating with the necessary agencies. They contacted Medina County Job and Family Services. Also, the department arranged for two county drug task force officers certified by DEA for methamphetamine investigations, along with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification (BCI & I) safety officer who oversees such operations and contacts DEA to have a federal case number assigned for the hazardous site cleanup (without this number, agencies must pay the significant costs themselves). Officers also made arrangements with fire and medical personnel.

The department sent its patrol sergeant to the door as he had established rapport with the husband, along with a plainclothes narcotics officer who had the search warrant with him. The entry team, comprised of the BCI & I agent and the two task force officers, stood by dressed in protective clothing and appropriate breathing equipment and ready to enter immediately upon removal of the husband. The fire and medical units waited nearby, out of sight of the residence. The sergeant knocked on the door, and the husband answered, holding the youngest child. After the officer invited him outside to talk, the man stepped through the doorway, and the investigators displayed the search warrant, handcuffed him, and secured him in the cruiser. The entry team quickly went in and located and removed the other two children; authorities placed all three in emergency custody and turned them over to family services personnel staged nearby. Then, the fire department and medics responded, cleared the neighboring apartments, and prepared equipment in case fire suppression became necessary.

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The entry team found evidence of methamphetamine production in various stages, as well as some finished substance. Many of these items were on floors, nightstands, and dressers, within easy access of the children. Investigators photographed the evidence where they found it before carrying the materials outside and separating them. They took small samples--keeping large amounts would prove dangerous--from some of the meth in production.

Both parents faced felony charges and incarceration for the manufacture of illegal drugs in the vicinity of juveniles. The father received 3 years in prison, and the mother pled to an amended charge of conspiracy, receiving 2 years. Also, the state of Ohio suspended her driver's license for 1 year.

Cleanup Practices

The BCI & I agent requested a hazardous material disposal team, and DEA dispatched one of its contracted companies. After securing the evidentiary samples, the team removed the remainder of the materials. These included production components, such as funnels, tubing, kitty litter, lye, glass jars and bottles, propane fuel canisters, coffee filters with red residue, naptha, acetone, isopropyl alcohol, and numerous liquids suspected of being methamphetamine in various stages of production or waste material.

Officers notified the apartment manager when they planned to clear the scene. They opened windows for ventilation. A DEA notice posted on the doors warned of the hazardous site inside. The clandestine lab operation resulted in the removal of all furnishings, the replacement of the carpet, and the repainting of the walls. (11)

Conclusion

Investigating and searching locations of suspected methamphetamine laboratories presents unique challenges and dangers. And, the unfortunate popularity of this drug indicates that many law enforcement agencies will face these situations.

The proper cooperation, planning, and input from various agencies prove critical to the success of the investigation and the safety of all concerned. And, one investigation at a time, law enforcement can take steps to successfully fight the spread of this dangerous drug.

Endnotes

(1) R. Schanlaub, "Meth Hazards," Law and Order, March 2005, 98-102.

(2) S.F. Domash, "Market Report," Police, May 2005, 36-45.

(3) Ibid.

(4) Ibid.

(5) For additional information, see Guy Hargreaves, "Clandestine Drug Labs: Chemical Time Bombs," FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, April 2000, 1-6.

(6) Supra note 2.

(7) C.R. Swanson, N.C. Chamelin, and L. Territo, Criminal Investigation (New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2003).

(8) Ibid.

(9) Ibid.

(10) Supra note 1.

(11) Federal decontamination standards dictate the specific cleanup requirements that rental managers must follow.

Chief Hanwell leads the Medina, Ohio, Police Department.