> SOUTHERN INDIANA —
Indiana State Police unveiled a new online investigative tool used to track the sale of pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient used to manufacture methamphetamine.
The web driven Indiana Methamphetamine Investigation System allows retailers that sell the medication to input data from their sales online. The website also allows users to submit tips about possible meth labs or find information about the highly addictive drug.
The website was first launched Aug. 13 in Elkhart. ISP conducted a training session following a news conference about the program at the Sellersburg post. By the end of the day, about 100 officers statewide were trained to use the new program.
“We’re going to raise the efficiency of law enforcement, the efficiency of retailers tracking the sale of pseudoephedrine,” said 1st Sgt. Niki Crawford, commander of the state police meth-suppression section.
Crawford said they have uncovered about 8,900 meth labs statewide in the last 10 years.
According to ISP statistics, police seized 1,343 labs in 2009 and made 1,031 arrests statewide, the most ever. When new laws restricting the sale of pseudoephedrine were passed in 2006, the number of lab seizures dropped drastically but has been on a steady incline since. In 2006, only 766 labs were discovered. There have already been 734 meth labs seized through Aug. 1 this year.
Retailers are not required under Indiana law to log their pseudoephedrine sales, but many large retailers are already participating, Crawford said. She would support a state law requiring all retailers to participate.
In the past, detectives would collect paper logs from each retailer and then sit at a table with a highlighter and look for patterns. Now, computer formulas look for signs of people buying suspicious amounts of the medication or groups that may be working together to make the purchases.
“It looks for patters and connects them as ‘smurf groups,’ people who work together,” she said.
Crawford said the information is protected for people who legitimately purchase the medication.
The new system was provided to ISP free of charge by the Tennessee Meth Task Force, which has used the program since 2004. Funding to develop the original system came from federal grants. More than 500,000 purchases by documented meth offenders have been identified in Tennessee in the last six years.
One of the key tools in the fight against meth, trailers used to collect and preserve evidence and clean up the scenes of meth labs, was on display at the ISP post.
Andry said they can spend anywhere from 30 minutes to 36 hours at a scene depending on the size of the meth operation. There are 13 meth-suppression trailers located throughout the state, and they are called in whenever a meth lab is discovered.
The trucks, along with equipment, cost $75,000 to $100,000. They include chemical-proof suits, masks, tools to test if meth is in the air, and cans used to properly dispose of the hazardous chemicals.
The computer system is now used in 11 states, and police hope that by the end of the year, they will be able to track purchases from suspects in any state that uses it.
Sgt. Paul Andry, who is in charge of meth lab investigation in the southern half of the state, said he knows of many people who become addicted to meth after using it only once.
Crawford cited recent studies that meth produces five times as much dopamine as sex and almost three times as much as cocaine.
“The first time you use it, it is the biggest high you’ve ever felt followed by a very depressing comedown,” Andry said of using meth. “It gets less each time. You’re chasing a pipe dream. Eventually, you’re taking it just to feel normal.”
Crawford said last year broke the record for most children taken out of homes where meth labs were discovered. The number continues to climb, she said.
She said 35 percent of children taken out of homes with labs test positive for meth because they breathe the vapors and may even ingest meth that gets on their hands.
Crawford said she does not expect the system will prevent meth manufacturing. It will help them identify the offenders, and so the number of seizures and arrests in the next few years may actually increase as police are better at finding the labs.
The website is available at www.in.gov/meth or meth.in.gov.
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Related Photos
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1st Sgt. Niki Crawford, commander of the Indiana State Police Methamphetamine Suppression Section, announced the launch of a web driven investigative tool called the Indiana Methamphetamine Investigative System at the State Police Post in Sellersburg Tuesday morning. Staff photo by C.E. Branham
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The Indiana State Police have 11 trailers stationed throughout the state to respond to methamphetamine labs. The contents of one of those trailers, breathing apparatus, etc., was on display during the press conference. Staff photo by C.E. Branham
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