Meth busters set record
By Peter Boylan
Advertiser Staff Writer
A record number of clandestine drug labs have been shut down in the state this year, most of them dangerous facilities used to refine crystal methamphetamine, law enforcement officials said.
Authorities said they have raided and opened investigations into more than 30 labs, far more than the six closed last year.
Two drug labs were uncovered and cleaned up in 2001 and three in 2002.
"So far we've been really lucky insomuch as they've been smaller labs," said Larry Burnett, director of the Hawai'i High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, a partnership of federal, state and county law enforcement agencies. "It's the big labs that we find on the Mainland that we want to keep out of here that pollute the land and streams and everything that we hold dear."
Included in the count of more than 30 seizures are about 10 instances in which large amounts of ingredients necessary for making meth were confiscated or
cases where law enforcement officials are following people believed to be working in drug labs. Although no labs were found in those cases, law enforcement officials said the ingredients were surely intended for labs.
The lab seizures come as the state and others devote a record level of resources to stopping crystal methamphetamine, also known as "ice." A year ago, Hawai'i had the worst ice statistics in the nation.
Law enforcement agencies are targeting dealers and users, with the number of arrests for meth offenses at an all-time high.
Volatile chemicals
The increase in labs shut down is a concern, officials say, because the highly volatile mixture used to create crystal meth-amphetamine makes these labs extremely dangerous, especially in congested areas.
"The best way I can describe it is someone taking a bunch of cleaning products and cold medicine, cooking it up, and smoking it," said Teal Cross, operations and senior response manager for Pacific Environmental Corp., a private company contracted by the state and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to clean up drug labs in Hawai'i. "It definitely can pose a problem; the corrosives that come off ... these labs are extremely potent corrosives."
Fumes and residue from the labs saturate carpets and other surfaces, exposing unsuspecting tenants to hazardous chemicals. Runoff from labs can contaminate soil and groundwater.
According to the state's Nuisance Abatement Unit, which operates out of the attorney general's office, there are hundreds of drug houses in the state, and police say there is no way to know how many operate labs.
Two incidents in September illustrate the type of labs being found:
• On Sept. 9, Kona police found a lab and more than 20 pounds of liquid methamphetamine after serving a search warrant at a property on Onaona Drive. A 28-year-old Kalaoa woman was arrested on numerous drug charges.
• On Sept. 10, East Hawai'i police working with U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and the state Narcotics Enforcement Division uncovered three drug labs in Kona and Puna.
West Hicks, 44, of Hawaiian Beaches, was charged with three drug counts after residual amounts of crystal methamphetamine and chemicals and paraphernalia associated with an ice lab and marijuana were found at an 'Opihi Street residence in the Hawaiian Shores subdivision, police said. A second suspect, Clyde Malani, 42, of Pahoa, was charged after officers recovered a rifle and ice. Capt. Samuel Thomas of the East Hawai'i criminal investigation section said at the time that police have been working with federal agents in seeking federal prosecution of Malani.
Federal agents and Honolulu police say most of the illegal drug labs are being used to convert methamphetamine to crystal methamphetamine. Authorities said that while most of the ice consumed in Hawai'i is imported from "super labs" in Mexico, California and some areas in Asia, local users are increasingly looking to make ice themselves by buying powdered meth at cheaper prices and crystallizing it themselves.
Super labs mass-produce methamphetamine, usually churning out hundreds of pounds a month while conversion labs are intended to convert powder methamphetamine into a smokable, crystal form. Conversion labs are easier to conceal, build and move than are production labs. These labs can be set up in a closet, a bathroom, the trunk of a car or a cardboard box.
11 O'ahu arrests
Lt. Craig Tavares, head of the Honolulu Police Department's Clandestine Laboratory Response Team, said there are quite a few labs on O'ahu, but most that he sees are conversion labs. Tavares' unit, working in coordination with the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, has taken down seven labs so far this year, arresting 11 people in connection with the operations.
"I know we're going to be bumping into more and more (production labs) due to new investigative techniques," said Tavares.
"There is a real big potential for injury with this stuff, but it isn't really a big production like people think it is."
On the Mainland, labs producing and converting methamphetamine have spread from forests in the Pacific Northwest to the valleys of California. In the past five years, methamphetamine labs have sprung up across the Midwest, ravaging states like Iowa and Missouri.
Up to $10,000 to clean
Cross and his company have been cleaning up labs from Honolulu to Hilo for more than five years, including three labs for the state this year. The cost to clean a drug lab is between $2,000 and $10,000, Cross said.
Producing 1 pound of methamphetamine leaves 5 or 6 pounds of toxic waste.
According to the U.S. attorney's office, only one federal charge has been handed down for methamphetamine production in Hawai'i in the past two years. That charge was levied against two men on July 28 in connection with a methamphetamine lab found on Navy housing.
State statutes do not specifically address drug labs as a prosecutable offense, but the participation in a methamphetamine production or conversion operation falls under the category of promotion of a dangerous drug. That state statute has three degrees of severity and is purposefully vague to allow for application to a wide range of situations.
Tavares' unit makes use of two full-time officers dedicated solely to locating and taking down drug labs. He said that there are other officers within the narcotics/vice unit who also have drug lab training and that the unit works jointly with the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, the DEA and state narcotics enforcement officers.
"Ice has been around here forever," he said. "There are probably quite a few (labs) out there. Bad guys come in from wherever and there are full-on (production) labs here, too."
Reach Peter Boylan at 535-8110 or pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.
