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Friday, September 29, 2000



New law
helps in fighting
isle drug labs

'It's quite a substantial
hammer,' says a narcotics
enforcement official


By Jaymes K. Song
Star-Bulletin

Law enforcement officers used to have to wait to catch people in the act of manufacturing drugs before they could bust a clandestine laboratory, but that has changed with a new law.

The new law was used to raid two suspected drug laboratories within a week -- Wednesday at Koko Head Avenue in Kaimuki and last Thursday in Kailua.

The law, first used in January, allows officers to arrest a person for possessing a regulated chemical if he or she intends to use it to manufacture drugs.

Now, a lab can be raided before drugs have been manufactured -- making it easier for law enforcement, said Keith Kamita, state Narcotics Enforcement Division administrator.

"It allows us to hit the lab before the cook starts," Kamita said. "Before the bubbling."

And the penalties are severe. If convicted, suspects face a $100,000 fine and/or up to 10 years in prison.

"It's quite a substantial hammer," Kamita said.

But drug agents must prove that the person intended to manufacture drugs and cannot make an arrest solely on the fact that an individual is carrying or has bought large amounts of chemicals or over-the-counter medicine.

Normally, agents seize precursor chemicals, formulas, laboratory equipment or other paraphernalia to prove drugs were being made and used.

The latest raid in Kaimuki, which resulted in the arrest of a boy, 17, and a woman, 38, stemmed from a call from an Oahu business that notified Kamita's office that someone had purchased one pound of iodine crystals, a key ingredient in making crystal methamphetamine, or "ice."

In the raid, agents found precursor chemicals, drug residue and pipes at the Kaimuki home. The two suspects face several drug charges.

State law, under the Clandestine Chemical Diversion Control Program, requires all manufacturers and retailers of regulated chemicals to report any suspicious or large purchases to the Narcotics Enforcement Division.

The company selling chemicals could also face prosecution if it knowingly sells to a person intending to make drugs.

Methamphetamines are relatively simple to manufacture using commonly available ingredients such as over-the-counter medicine (pseudoephedrine), ephedrine, red phosphorus and hydrochloric acid, iodine, ether, and alcohol, according to the National Criminal Justice Reference Center. "Clan labs," which are spreading nationwide, can be found anywhere, including hotel rooms.

"Clan labs" are dangerous to the drug makers and their neighbors, Kamita said, because the hazardous chemicals being used could cause an explosion triggered by someone smoking a cigarette.

The chemicals also could cause contaminating conditions in and around the house. Agents have come across drug makers who have buried toxic waste in their yards.

Kamita advises anyone who smells chemicals in their neighborhood or suspects any illegal drug use to call the 24-hour narcotics enforcement hot line at 594-0150.

Things to look for if you suspect a methamphetamine laboratory in your neighborhood:

Bullet Strong chemical smell like ammonia or acetone

Bullet Lab materials being carried to the home or surrounding property such as lantern fuel cans, chemically stained coffee filters, glass jugs, flasks and rubber tubing.



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