A bevy of local, state and federal law enforcement officials met Thursday at the Leflore County Courthouse to discuss efforts to stop the devastating impact of crystal methamphetamine on communities and families.
"In Mississippi, we began seeing meth as a major problem in the mid-1990s," said Charlie Spillers, an assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi based in Oxford. "In 1997, we started an investigation called 78 Express. It centered on investigating a large-scale methamphetamine drug conspiracy."
Spillers was joined at the National Methamphetamine Awareness Day news conference by Leflore County Sheriff Ricky Banks; Leflore County District Attorney Joyce Chiles; Don Douglas, a Drug Enforcement Administration agent based in Oxford; Capt. Adrian Armon of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics based in Greenwood; Billy Baker, an MBN agent based in Oxford; Leflore County Prosecutor Richard Oakes; and Curtis Ivy, assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District.
Initially in the mid-1990s, meth was made in Mexico and brought into the state by suppliers based in California and other Western states, the prosecutor said.
"What we found back then was truck drivers, who used meth to stay awake on long hauls, began using more and more meth. Then they began dealing it. After a short period of time, they stopped driving trucks and started dealing in pounds and half-pounds of meth," Spillers said.
Since the 1990s, homegrown meth labs have sprung up in the state, while out-of-state shipments declined, he said.
"We went from one or two labs being seized a year to hundreds of labs being seized," Spillers said.
Meth use not only destroys a person's teeth and causes skin rot but also poses dangers for officers charged with enforcing drug laws.
"We found that the long-term drug trafficker/user - after they'd been on meth for a while - had a history of violence. We've found them carrying more and more weaponry," he said.
Children of meth users often show signs of physical abuse and neglect, the prosecutor said. In addition, meth use can lead to paranoia, with many dealers employing closed-circuit television security systems to monitor their meth labs and homes, Spillers said.
In 2005, the Mississippi Legislature passed restrictions on over-the-counter cold medicines, which contain an ingredient used to make meth. Farmers have stopped using anhydrous ammonia fertilizer, which is used in the manufacturing of meth. Both developments have reduced the number of meth labs operating in the state, Banks said.
"It's making it harder for them to operate. They're making it in a different way now. They put it in a car and make it while going down the road," he said.
The narcotics bureau handled 500 meth lab cases prior to the new restrictions. Since the law took effect in July 2005, only 200 cases have been investigated.
Chiles praised the cooperation between all levels of government.
"I'm pleased that the Sheriff's Department, the U.S. Attorney's office and the D.A.'s office are able to work together and get a handle on the methamphetamine problem in this county - to eradicate it, to prosecute it and trying to find out who these people are that are dealing in it," she said.
Douglas said in 2005, DEA seized 54 kilograms of meth from about 184 labs in the state.
The destructiveness of meth use lasts a lifetime, he said.
"When you take it, your future kind of moves behind you. It affects and cripples the person taking it," Douglas said.
