RETAILER SETTLES IN METH CASE

N. Texas: Walgreen Firm Accepts Responsibility In Illegal Drug-Making

PLANO - Federal authorities described a $1.3 million settlement with
Walgreen Corp. on Thursday as a major breakthrough in pushing retail
pharmacies to keep a closer eye on the sale of over-the-counter medicines
used to make illegal drugs.

Matt Orwig, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Texas, said the
national chain agreed to accept civil responsibility for selling
methamphetamine cooks and dealers large amounts of pseudoephedrine out of
their northeast Texas stores.

Thursday's civil settlement came on the heels of a two-year drug
investigation that netted 25 criminal convictions of methamphetamine cooks
and dealers, and shut down five so-called meth labs in Denton and Grayson
counties, Mr. Orwig said.

"This is a major, groundbreaking settlement that's going to help fight
what's become a major drug problem in northeast Texas," Mr. Orwig said.

Pseudoephedrine is a common ingredient found in cold remedies that can be
used to make methamphetamine.

Michael Polzin, a spokesman for Walgreen, said the national chain agreed to
settle and work with authorities to put both sides "on the same page to
curb the production of meth through over-the-counter drugs."

"This was well before today's level of awareness developed on the problem
of methamphetamine abuse," Mr. Polzin said. "We're also following new state
laws in other parts of the country where sales restrictions have been put
into place."

New law On Monday, a law goes into effect in Texas that limits
over-the-counter sales of pseudoephedrine to 6 grams - or two packages.

In May, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Kmart Holding Corp., CVS Corp., Rite Aid
Corp. and Walgreen announced that they would move medicines with
pseudoephedrine behind counters. Walgreen has also agreed to install a
computerized sales monitoring system in North Texas and Oklahoma to track
sales of more than 9 grams of pseudoephedrine in a 30-day span to any
individual, Mr. Orwig said.

Denton bust Local and federal authorities traced the pseudoephedrine to a
Walgreen's pharmacy in Denton after a September 2002 drug bust by Denton
police. Federal agents then tracked a single-day sale at that pharmacy of
53,000 tablets of pseudoephedrine to one meth dealer in March 2002.

Gary Olenkiewicz, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Agency's
Dallas field office, said that purchase alone was enough to help make
almost 8 pounds of the highly addictive stimulant that sells for up to
$15,000 a pound.

The dealer tied to that large buy received more than 10 years in federal
prison for his role in a meth ring that operated out of Cooke, Denton and
Grayson counties. A surveillance tape captured the man pushing two carts
loaded with cold pills to the checkout counter.

The local investigation led to the arrest and conviction of a former
University of North Texas professor in the same ring.

Paul Schlieve received more than 13 years in federal prison on narcotics
conspiracy charges in August, after his arrest in Pilot Point a year
earlier in which police found more than 200 grams of methamphetamine and
guns in the truck he was driving.

He was fired from UNTin July 2002 over accusations that he paid a friend
university grant money for work he never performed at the institution.

Mr. Schlieve was among 25 people in the methamphetamine ring indicted in
federal court. All but Mr. Schlieve pleaded guilty in return for lighter
sentences, and all testified against him in his trial.

Pleased with deal Denton County Sheriff Benny Parkey, whose office worked
alongside federal agents in the investigation, said Thursday's settlement
was a welcome sight in battling meth sales in North Texas.

"Pseudoephedrine is something you find at your local stores," Sheriff
Parkey said. "No one's smuggling it over the border like heroin or cocaine."

Donna Fielder of the Denton Record-Chronicle contributed to this report.