MEMPHIS, TN - Glass. Crank. Tweak. Chalk. Zip. Cristy. Ice. Crystal meth has many names. But for Mid-South law enforcement agencies, they all mean the same thing: trouble.
"Right now," says DeSoto County Sheriff Bill Rasco, "meth is our major concern."
Rasco says his department has busted twice as many meth labs this year compared to last year. And he says there's one main reason why.
"With the economy being down," he says, "and people not having jobs, that's where they're making their money now, through the manufacturing of crystal meth."
And these days, the meth makers aren't just in rural areas. A spokesperson for the Memphis Police Department says the number of lab busts and meth dumping sites found in the city are up. 49 so far in 2009 compared to 32 in all of last year.
"It's easy. It's fast. It's inexpensive," says an MPD undercover cop who just worked a meth lab bust Thursday night at the Memphis Inn Motel on Sycamore View. Two days earlier, Memphis Police officers stopped a mobile meth lab rolling through East Memphis. They arrested a man on Walnut Grove not far from East High School for making meth in his car.
"We've taken labs from motel rooms, apartments, houses and vehicles," says the undercover officer, "and a camper, trailers, you name it."
The household ingredients used to make meth, including Draino, brake fluid, rat poison and battery acid, are all very easy to find. But the effects are hard on the human body. Meth users age prematurely, have open sores on their bodies and get what's called "meth mouth" where their teeth rot away.
"There are some dangerous chemicals being used," says Sheriff Rasco. "Anybody who'd put battery acid in their body, something's wrong."
Something is wrong. In Fayette County, deputies are dealing with a record number of lab busts this year, including a seizure Friday, December 4, 2009, inside a $300,000 home in the Hickory Withe area.
Investigators believe Michael and Mary Dulin had been cooking up and selling meth for at least a year. Narcotics officers began an undercover operation, including surveillance of the home, after neighbors repeatedly complained of a strong chemical smell coming from the house. Saturday night, the Dulins were still in jail, facing numerous drug charges.
In Southaven, cops who don't normally find meth labs in the city limits are amazed at the five busts they've made so far this year. "It's coming back, that's for sure," says Cpt. Steve Stewart with the Southaven Police Department.
In Horn Lake on Wednesday, a garbage worker discovered meth making materials in a trash bag when he noticed something in his truck was smoking.
And in Frayser, cops say a young man cooked meth in the attic with his disabled father downstairs, until a family member reported him to police. "Good for that family member," a neighbor tells myEyewitnessNews.com. "They should get an award for doing that."
Meth making is a growing epidemic in the Mid-South. And it's a tough one to fight.
"As they say," says Sheriff Rasco, "it's the hardest drug to kick. It's just almost impossible to kick crystal meth."
And as meth usage goes up, the age of the first-time user is going down. According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, the average age of a first time user is now 19, down from 22 the year before.
