Meth arrests mean the battle against illegal drug continues

By Ben Holman

Nevada Daily Mail

Recently the Vernon County Sheriff's Office made a number of arrests associated with methamphetamine. The drug, known as meth, speed, crank and many other street names, is a rapidly growing problem -- especially in rural areas such as Vernon County.

So far in September, there were six arrests relating to either the production of possession of meth in Vernon County. On Sept. 5, three separate people were arrested for attempting to steal anhydrous ammonia, a key ingredient in the production of meth. On Sept. 6, three more people were arrested -- one for possession of meth and other drugs, one for maintaining a drug house and another for attempting to steal anhydrous ammonia.

According to reports from the Vernon County Sheriff's office, most are being held on $100,000 bonds, which is standard in drug cases. However, Michael Harris, a 42-year-old man from Springfield, is being held on a $1,000,000 bond. According to Vernon County Sheriff Ron Peckman, Harris was arrested for trying to steal anhydrous ammonia from the tanks in Sheldon.

Peckman said that Harris' bond was set at a higher amount because of his criminal history. "He had a 32-page criminal history," said Peckman, who added that the list included, "a little bit of everything."

Because of his history, Harris will be charged with federal crimes as well as state and local charges. Peckman said, "When I went to interview him he basically said, 'I'm going back to jail, so go pound sand.'" Peckman said that the actual phrase Harris used wasn't suitable for quotation in the paper.

Methamphetamine production and abuse is one of the fastest growing drug epidemics in the U.S. today. Rural communities, such as Nevada, are the hardest hit, largely because it is cheap and easy to make, and many of the ingredients are commonly used in farming.

According to the El Paso Intelligence Center, U.S. DEA, in 1998, rural areas in the U.S. reported only 949 meth labs. Last year, 9,385 were reported and 4,589 have been reported this year as of July 26.

According to the Missouri Highway Patrol's Web site, in 2000, there were 847 meth lab incidents in Missouri with three of them coming from Vernon County. As of June this year, 1,460 incidents had been reported and nine of them were in Vernon County.

Peckman said, "every community's got a meth problem. It's not any worse here than any place else." He said that the high numbers of meth arrests recently are not the result of increased attention to the meth problem in Vernon County, they are simply evidence of the growing problem. "We're just doing our jobs," he said.