Methamphetamine
Production
About
Methamphetamine Production
Clandestine methamphetamine (meth) manufacture
is one of the most serious and dangerous of current
drug issues being faced by law enforcement and
the public. Illicit manufacture of meth involves
the process of combining multiple chemicals to
another substance (referred to as a "precursor")
to create methamphetamine. The most common precursor
used is "pseudoephedrine" found in many
over-the-counter cold and allergy medications.
The tablets containing pseudoephedrine are crushed,
then the powder is dissolved and mixed with various
chemicals to create the reactions that convert
the pseudoephedrine to methamphetamine. The process
of combining these chemicals creates hazardous
conditions, including a strong risk of fire, explosion
or toxic gases, as well as a substantial amount
of hazardous chemical waste. This creates not
only an increased threat to the safety of law
enforcement and medical first-responders, but
also to the public.
Methamphetamine is extremely addictive and provides
a longer and more intense high than many other
street drugs. Its use is widespread, making it
competitively priced and easily accessible among
other street drugs. In recent years, there have
been significant simplifications discovered in
the processes for producing methamphetamine. The
ingredients necessary can largely be obtained
from over-the-counter household chemicals. There
are a number of different "recipes"
or methods of producing methamphetamine, each
involving the use of various chemicals.
You should also be suspicious of strong chemical
odors associated with the process of making meth.
It can include strong solvent odors, ammonia odors,
or a pungent odor that some have compared to "smelly
sweat socks". There are other "indicators"
of the presence of a meth lab to watch for: multiple
coffee filters with chemical stains, glass or
plastic jars with chemicals separating into layers
or containing chemical residue, broken open lithium
battery casings, multiple empty containers of
gas-line treatment, and multiple empty packages
or blister packs from cold and allergy medications.
Common
Items Used for Production
1) Stained coffee filters
2) Empty pseudoephedrine blister packs
3) Strong solvent or ammonia odors*
4) Acetone
5) Toluene
6) Denatured alcohol
7) Red Devil Lye
8) Red Phosphorous*
9) Lithium batteries
10) Anhydrous Ammonia*
11) Heet or gas-line treatments with methyl
alcohol
12) Drain cleaner with sulfuric acid
13) Heat source*
14) Glassware (beakers or mason jars)
15) Coffee grinder with white powder residue*
16) Stained tubing*
17) Hypodermic syringes
18) Written recipes*
* Items to be aware of, not in photo |
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