Meth Response Team Sees More Labs and New Dangers in 2011
By
Stephanie Tyrpak
By
Benjy Jeffords
Story Created:
Jan 30, 2012 at 6:27 PM CDT
Story Updated:
Jan 31, 2012 at 9:39 PM CDT
DU QUOIN -- A shift in how meth is made is leading to more dangers for manufacturers and drug investigators.
Making meth used to take several steps using different chemicals, but when it comes to the portable "shake and bake" method, much smaller amounts of chemicals and fewer steps are needed.
It makes the process easier to do without getting caught, though it comes with a big risk for fire damage and burns.
"The power of addiction on this particular drug is beyond anything we've seen before," said Master Sgt. Daryl Grammer.
Grammer has spent years leading the Meth Response Team through the Illinois State Police, and 2011 was the biggest year since the team's start.
"That's myself and five other guys in 31 counties handling 230 labs," said Grammer. "That's the most we've ever handled."
Meth labs can be hidden in almost every setting.
"We've responded to everything from a camping trailer, to a field fire, to a house trailer, to a fairly nice neighborhood," said Grammer.
The "shake and bake" method accounts for 75% of the current labs, and is a more volatile method causing more meth fires in Illinois. The team responded to more than 20 fires last year.
"Every single one of them has been a 'shake and bake' method," said Grammer. "The vessel is failing, and then the liquid is then self-igniting, and then whatever it falls on - curtains, couch, a bed, a person - we've had several people get burned pretty badly."
The dangerous list of chemicals is mixed inside everyday plastic containers, making the batch hard to handle.
"You have a molotov cocktail with a self-ignition," said Grammer.
The fire-prone method means suits designed to protect officers from meth materials are no longer the best option.
"They'll melt," said Grammer. "It's a plastic. It's a polypropylene-type material that is impervious to a chemical or a solvent, but it's definitely not fire resistant."
To prove a substance is meth, the team needs a sample. Opening a container that could go up in flames makes that evidence gathering harder to do.
"If we don't have the equipment, we can no longer crack that vessel safely to obtain that sample," said Grammer.
Without that sample from the "shake and bake" lab, a prosecutor may decide to file lesser charges.
Grammer recently traveled to Springfield to ask for flame-retardant suits and is hoping to have them in the near future.
