MEXICAN METH EDGES INTO TENNESSEE

A cheap, accessible type of methamphetamine known as Mexican meth is
crossing the Georgia border and infiltrating Tennessee, bringing a host of
new troubles, law enforcement officials said.

Federal grants have been set aside to help with the cost of dealing with
the current crop of "homegrown" meth labs, but the Mexican drug creates new
issues that could increase costs and kick start other crimes, said Paul
Laymon, assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

"As time passes, we'll get more and more Mexican methamphetamine in our
area, and instead of competing with our homegrown stuff, the market will
just expand," Mr. Laymon said.

Mexican methamphetamine is a diluted version of what local officials call
"Grundy Gold," named for its Tennessee county of origin. But Mexican meth
is cheaper and becoming more accessible -- users don't have to devote much
effort to getting it, unlike people who operate clandestine meth labs, said
Ben Scott, resident agent in charge for the Chattanooga office of the Drug
Enforcement Administration.

The drug, also known as poor man's cocaine, is crossing the state line from
Georgia into Hamilton and Bradley counties, coming primarily from Dalton,
Mr. Laymon said.

Officials speculate Dalton has become a hub because of the increase in the
Hispanic population there. They said meth dealers in Dalton's Hispanic
community, who are primarily from Mexico but also from Puerto Rico and
Guatemala, "saw an opportunity" to sell the drug as the community expanded,
Mr. Laymon said.

"We have quantities here in Dalton in the upper 90s percentage," said
Whitfield County Detective Paul Woods. "Just about all the meth we are
getting around here is Mexican meth."

An "eight-ball" -- an eighth of an ounce -- of both the locally made and
Mexican meth costs about the same -- $200 to $250, Mr. Laymon said. In
larger quantities, though, one pound of the Mexican drug has a street value
of $6,000 to $10,000, while pure meth made here can run as much as $28,000
a pound.

"We're not seeing any local cooks selling a pound at a time, but it's not
uncommon for the DEA to buy multi-pounds of Mexican meth from targets in
Dalton," Mr. Laymon said. "We never used to see that."

He said the work of law enforcement and the wariness of merchants make it
harder to buy precursor chemicals for manufacturing methamphetamine.

"You can't just walk into Wal-Mart and say, 'I want a case of Ephedrine,'"
Mr. Laymon said. "If you're willing to invest the time and energy into
finding what you need to make it, there's a payoff, or maybe you'll just
get to the point where you're happy just buying Mexican methamphetamine."

Lt. Tommy Farmer of the narcotics division of the Hamilton County Sheriff's
Department said his office noticed a flood of Mexican meth in North Georgia
in 1995. Although it's been there for seven years and picked up speed the
last two, only recently have local law enforcement officers noticed the
influx into Tennessee, he said.

In the last year, his department, with the help of the DEA and the
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, has examined about four "substantial
cases involving Mexican meth" in Hamilton County, Lt. Farmer said.

As the Mexican meth seeps into Hamilton County, law enforcement officials
are bracing for other crimes related to conflicts between local
manufacturers and Mexican meth distributors, Lt. Farmer said.

"We already have turf wars involving dealers of other drugs, like cocaine,"
he said. "We'll start seeing that here with the meth, and other crimes,
too, like robberies and even more serious, violent crimes."

Because the drug is coming from Georgia, Tennessee investigators are
limited when it comes to jurisdictional boundaries in "dealing with a
problem that's affecting us," Mr. Laymon said.

Georgia and Tennessee law enforcement officials jointly investigate
meth-related crimes that cross state lines, but because of grants secured
solely for Tennessee, Georgia is unable to take advantage of the training
and equipment provided by the Southeast Tennessee Methamphetamine Task
Force, Lt. Farmer said.

The task force, composed of local, state and federal agencies, provides 18
Southeast Tennessee counties support for equipment, training and employee
overtime in investigating meth-related crimes, said U.S. Attorney Russ
Dedrick of the Eastern District of the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The task force, which is expanding, has received two $1 million federal
grants through the office of U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., and the
Department of Justice.

But Georgia has been left out.

"I could see us forming a task force to cross state lines and federal
boundaries, similar to our current task force," Mr. Laymon said.
"Presumably, we'd separate funding for another task force that could
benefit both states."

Investigators fear the Mexican meth will continue to spread into Meigs,
McMinn, Bledsoe, Sequatchie and Marion counties, bordering Bradley and
Hamilton, Mr. Scott said. But only time will tell what specific effects it
will have on the areas.

"It's impossible to say when we'll see it spread or how fast," he said,
"but any drug available will spread -- it just takes time."