METH BUST JUST TIP OF THE ICEBERG

It all started with shoplifters snatching common cold medicine off shelves
in Union County.

A year later, officials from 10 federal, state and local law enforcement
agencies stood in front of reporters explaining how they dismantled a
multistate methamphetamine ring they say was responsible for 75 percent of
the drug's supply in three Upstate counties.

But authorities say they are still a long way from stopping what the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Administration describes as the "fastest-growing drug
threat in western South Carolina."

John Ozaluk, South Carolina DEA agent in charge, said the agency has
dismantled 36 labs used to produce the drug -- most of those in the Upstate
- -- since January. In the previous two years combined, agents found about a
half-dozen. And the number should continue to rise, Ozaluk said.

The labs have been popping up all over in neighboring states, including
North Carolina and Tennessee.

Whether the methamphetamine trade is just beginning in South Carolina or
the odorous labs have been operating under authorities' noses for some time
is hard to determine, Ozaluk said.

"I don't know if you can sit there and put your finger on it," he said.
"It's hard to believe that Tennessee, North Carolina and Georgia have 10
times more labs than we do."

Greenville County Chief Deputy Coroner Mike Ellis said the Coroner's Office
has increasingly seen methamphetamine-related deaths.

"There's been a significant increase in the last five years," he said.

Methamphetamine, also known as "speed," "crank" and "poor man's cocaine,"
is a potent central nervous system stimulant that can be both addictive and
deadly, Ozaluk said. According to the DEA, use of the drug increases heart
rate, blood pressure, body temperature and breathing rate, and frequently
fuels violent behavior.

What separates the drug from others is that it can be made right here in
the United States in a bathroom, kitchen or motel room, whereas other drugs
like cocaine and heroine have to be shipped in. Ozaluk said he wouldn't be
surprised if methamphetamine is the second most domestically produced drug
outside of marijuana.

"It's home-grown drugs," he said. "They don't have to get involved with
dealing outside of their local community."

It doesn't take much to set up a drug lab. Anyone determined enough to
build one could probably do so, Ozaluk said. "It's just a filthy process,"
he said. "There's nothing individually you would want to ingest. It's
garbage. Some of this stuff is made behind the chickenhouse."

The labs themselves pose a danger to anyone living in or around them.
Ozaluk said that during a recent lab bust, the suspect's two children, aged
2 and 7, tested positive for methamphetamine. Meanwhile, the suspect had
been using a mask to protect himself, Ozaluk said.

The laboratories contain a variety of highly flammable, toxic chemicals and
vapors. The labs are so dangerous for people and the environment that a law
enforcement agent has to be DEA-certified to dismantle one.

"It's so dangerous that people have to be out of their minds to mess with
it," Greenville County Sheriff Sam Simmons said.

The labs found in the Upstate are not as big and do not produce as much as
the "super labs" found in the West. DEA officials in California seized 228
such labs in 1999 that produced 10 pounds or more of methamphetamine. This,
and the fact the components can be transported in the trunk of a car, can
make it more difficult for local authorities to find them.

Union County Sheriff Howard Wells said investigators in his county were
first tipped off by a series of shoplifting incidents involving the theft
of Sudafed, commonly used to make methamphetamine.

Many of these people caught were coming from Laurens and Newberry counties,
he said. As they made more arrests, they discovered that many of these
people were trading the cold medicine for small amounts of meth, Wells said.

Because the agencies worked together, they were able to track the movements
of these individuals even as they moved from county to county and state to
state, authorities said.

Authorities said a Kentucky man was the ringleader. He was arrested about a
week ago in Louisville. When the operation was dismantled, Ozaluk said,
they found four methamphetamine labs, more than 500 grams of meth and
several weapons, including an AK-47 with more than 500 rounds.

It was a victory for law enforcement trying to get ahead of the curve, but
as Clinton Police Chief Carroll Barker said, "This is just the tip of the
iceberg."