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"They're up all across the state and nation," said Detective Sgt. Jason Grellner, commander of the Franklin County Narcotics Enforcement Unit (FCNEU).
"By rough estimates, we'll be back up to near 100 labs by the end of the year," he predicted.
From January through March, police agencies in the county reported 26 lab incidents compared to nine in the same period in 2008. Twenty-three of the incidents were investigated by the narcotics task force.
In 2005, there were 103 meth lab cases reported. Last year, FCNEU officers and other local agencies investigated 70 meth lab cases compared to 50 in 2007 and 69 in 2006.
"The trend is reversing now," Grellner said.
Across the state, 462 meth lab incidents were reported in the first quarter, ranking Missouri once again as the No. 1 state for labs. That is up from 426 incidents in the first quarter of 2008. Coming in a distant second was Mississippi with 146 incidents.
Investigators say meth makers and users are getting around the law by "pill smurfing," a practice in which groups of people purchase the decongestant medicine at multiple pharmacies, then turn the pills over to a meth cook.
Pseudoephedrine is the vital ingredient needed to manufacture meth.
"Without pseudoephedrine you don't have meth," Grellner remarked.
Electronic Tracking
Missouri is poised to implement an electronic system that will enhance the way investigators track people who make multiple meth purchases.
Now pharmacies maintain paper logs which makes it difficult to follow.
The new state budget contains $800,000 to purchase the system, but Grellner said the money can be "better spent elsewhere."
"Electronic tracking will allow us to better target the pill buyers, but it also forces the black market price for pseudoehpedrine to rise," Grellner explained. That broadens the base of offenders, he noted.
In the Kansas City area which doesn't have electronic tracking, the black market price for a box of pseudoephedrine is $10 to $15, while in St. Louis County which implemented a pilot program in some areas, the price can reach $50 a box, Grellner said.
"In Kentucky, which has fully enforced tracking including stop sale, the price has reached $75 a box," Grellner said.
While it identifies more targets, the big question is what to do with the growing number of offenders, some who may not be meth users but are buying pseudoephedrine because of the black market profit.
"What do we do with all of them? There's no more room at the inn," Grellner said of overcrowding in prisons.
Grellner, president of the Missouri Narcotics Officers Association, said that group plans to advise Gov. Jay Nixon to take the money earmarked for the electronic tracking system and spend it on implementing a full prescription monitoring program.
Such a program would be used to help target individuals who practice "doctor shopping" to obtain large amounts of prescription drugs. It also would identify "rogue" doctors and pain clinics which sell prescriptions, Grellner explained.
"Shake and Bake"
Grellner said a new method for cooking meth - variously called "shake and bake" or "one pot" - is showing up in Missouri. Investigators here recently learned of the method, which combines all the meth ingredients in a 2-liter soda bottle.
"It's taking off in Indiana, Kentucky and western Illinois," Grellner said.
"We found one of them last week in the New Haven area," he said. Evidence was found at a meth lab dumpsite, Grellner said.
The process is highly dangerous because the ingredients, when shaken, basically combine to create a controlled explosion contained within the bottle, Grellner explained. The only thing that prevents the concoction from blowing up the bottle is the lack of oxygen which would enter if the cap is removed or blown off, he noted.
Meth cooks using that method often shake up the mixture, then hide the bottle somewhere and wait for it to become less volatile so it can be opened.
"That creates a whole new set of problems," Grellner remarked. "What if someone cutting grass comes upon it. What if some kids find it?"
