State Cracks Down on S.D. Drug Labs : 6 Extra Enforcement Agents Assigned to Stamp Out Illegal Methamphetamine

Citing statistics that show San Diego County accounted for 25% of all methamphetamine labs seized in the United States in 1986, state Atty. Gen. John Van de Kamp on Tuesday announced the creation of a special drug lab task force to battle the proliferation of clandestine methamphetamine manufacturing sites in San Diego.

To dramatize the problem posed by the illegal laboratories, Van de Kamp met with reporters on the playground at Anza Elementary School in El Cajon. In September, El Cajon police raided a house adjacent to the school and found a clandestine lab in the basement and $44 million worth of methamphetamine, including the street drug known as crystal meth.

Grim Picture Painted

Statistics provided by Van de Kamp painted a grim picture of a methamphetamine crisis that is plaguing local, state and federal narcotics agents in California. According to the attorney general’s figures, 479 clandestine methamphetamine labs were uncovered in the United States in 1986. Of these, 325 labs, or 67%, were seized in California. Of all the labs seized in this country last year, 120 labs, or 25%, were found in San Diego County.

Although some labs have been uncovered in populated areas like El Cajon, most drug merchants prefer to “cook” methamphetamine in labs situated in the county’s vast and lightly populated rural areas.

“Home-cooked drugs . . . have moved out of the inner city into the backcountry,” Van de Kamp said. “You’re also seeing them close to chemical companies that can provide the precursor chemicals.”

In addition to the obvious danger posed by methamphetamine, the chemicals used to manufacture the drugs also present a hazard. Most of the chemicals are volatile and highly unstable. In the case of the drug lab seized by authorities near Anza Elementary School, El Cajon police said there was enough ether in the lab to level the entire block if it exploded.

Special Force for County

Beginning this week, Van de Kamp said, he has assigned a “special task force” of six state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement agents to work exclusively on uncovering clandestine labs in San Diego County. The agents will work with local and federal drug agents, but Van De Kamp estimated that for every lab uncovered in the county “there are three others out there that we’ve heard about.”

Methamphetamine labs are highly mobile--some dealers prefer to cook the drug in motel rooms--and only a basic knowledge of chemistry is needed to produce the illegal drug, which generates quick and immense profits from street sales. Van de Kamp estimated that the average lab produces 50 pounds of methamphetamine a week that sells for as much as $22,000 a pound.

In addition to the extra agents, Van De Kamp said, the state has budgeted money for the creation of a Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement field office in San Diego. State officials hope that the new office will be operational by fall. It will include the six additional agents, who will join the two who currently work on narcotics investigations from a small San Diego office.