METH ADDICTS, ID THEFT 'LIKE RATS AND GARBAGE'

Stealing mail. Digging through trash. Days spent in front of a
computer trying to unlock financial information.

All to score methamphetamine.

Authorities are discovering that more and more desperate users of the
drug are turning to identity theft to pay for their habit, creating a
criminal nexus costing Americans millions of dollars.

The trend is sweeping the West and spreading to other parts of the
country, with one hub of activity in the garages and trailer parks of
Riverside and San Bernardino counties on the fringe of suburban Los Angeles.

The region was the site of a third of California's nearly 500 meth
lab busts in 2004 and is home to the second-highest number of
identity theft victims in the nation.

"It's been said the two crimes go together like rats and garbage,"
said Jack Lucky, a Riverside County prosecutor.

The connection is posing a major challenge for authorities, who until
recently tended to overlook or neglect identity theft evidence at
meth labs in favor of pursuing drug charges that are easier to prove
and carry stiffer penalties.

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., has called on the Department of
Justice to study the link and recommend tougher penalties for those
convicted of both crimes.

"What we are probably going to find is that there is a stronger
connection than we know right now," she said.

No figures were available on just how much the link is costing
consumers. But nearly 10 million Americans fell victim last year to
identity theft, costing $5 billion. Meanwhile, the popularity of
methamphetamine has grown, with an estimated 12 million people trying
it at least once.

Police said meth users are drawn to identity theft because they can
stay up for days scanning computer records or go "Dumpster diving"
for discarded financial information.

Last summer, Georgia authorities tracked at least 20 thieves -- known
as the "Mailbox Meth Gang" -- who cruised housing subdivisions
looking for raised flags on mailboxes that could yield checks and
bank statements to exchange for meth. Investigators found 14,000
credit card numbers in a laptop computer seized from the gang.

Alameda, Calif., police Sgt. Anthony Munoz said as many as 85 percent
of the identity theft cases he investigates have a connection to
methamphetamine use. In one, a defendant pleaded guilty to 56 counts
of identity theft and was sentenced to just one year in county jail, he said.

"Those are the type of sentences you get," said Munoz, who backs
sentencing enhancements for people convicted of both crimes.