Neighborhoods suffer from the devastating effects of systemic violence, meth trafficking, and dealing. The production of meth also leads to contaminating surrounding properties with toxic waste and chemicals. Reports show that meth-related arrests, overdose deaths, and hospitalizations have grown significantly in recent years. A law that took effect in Florida on July 1 limited the amount of pseudophedrine that could be sold in drug stores. The overthe-counter cold medicine is one of the key ingredients in methamphetamine. The former Tribune reporter and editor has become a best-selling author, specializing in sordid Florida crime novels — including “Atomic Lobster,” now a New York Times best seller.
In 2017, there were 868 meth-related deaths in Florida with Calhoun Country being the hardest hit in the state. The number of meth-related deaths in Florida has increased dramatically over the past two decades. Indiana, Tennessee, and Missouri have the highest rates of lab incidence.
Record Meth Bust In Polk County Tied to Mexican Cartel
USCS officials in Florida seized over5,500 kilograms of drugs from commercial and private vehicles in 2001. Over 527kilograms of drugs, primarily cocaine, heroin, and marijuana, were seized onFlorida roadways as part of Operation Pipeline in 2001. In 2001 the Florida Legislature authorized the creation of a3-year pilot program in Orange County to intercept illicit drugs sent viapackage delivery services. It designated the Orange County Sheriff’s Office,which had previously created its own interdiction program, to create andsupervise the pilot program.
Consequences of Meth Abuse
USCS officials in Florida seized almost 3,000 kilograms ofdrugs from commercial and private aircraft and over 165 kilograms from packagesin 2001. (Some of these seizures also were reported as part of Operation Jetwaystatistics.) In addition, county and local law enforcement agencies seizesignificant quantities of illicit drugs but do not report seizure totals as partof Operation Jetway or to USCS. Methamphetamine is often available in rural areas and morerecently has become available in metropolitan and suburban areas. In centralFlorida, particularly Polk County, the availability of locally producedmethamphetamine and methamphetamine produced in California, Mexico, andsouthwestern states has spread outward. In addition to local producers,laboratory operators from Alabama and Georgia, who produce methamphetamineprimarily using the Birch reduction method, have begun producing methamphetaminein northern Florida. An increasing amount of methamphetamine produced in Mexico,California, and southwestern states also is available.
With informed and caring treatment services, we can ensure that you are comfortable and safe while you detox from meth and move on to the next stage of your treatment. Martin, who oversees the agency’s criminal investigations bureau, said the law is the main reason many meth labs are gone. In February, officers at ports of entry and Border Patrol agents recorded 342 meth seizure events. That number increased in March to 371, but declined in April and again in May. In a Thursday news conference, Polk Sheriff Grady Judd says detectives working with a multi-agency drug task force seized 1,342 pounds of liquid meth, with an estimated value of over $50 million, in “Operation Dirty Water”. The meth was transported in orange buckets, to be converted to crystal meth for street sales.
Map Shows States With Most Meth Users
Meth is a highly addictive substance that is often manufactured illegally in clandestine laboratories. Many of these labs are located in other countries like Mexico and the meth is trafficked into the U.S. illegally. However, some labs still exist in America and are responsible for some of the meth being dealt on the streets or sold online. The principal chemicals are ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, anhydrous ammonia, and sodium or lithium metal. Also known as the Nazi method, this method typically yields ounce quantities of high quality d-methamphetamine and often is used by independent dealers and producers.
Polk Still Seen as Meth ‘Hot Spot’
- On May 27, 2002, local law enforcement officials discovered thebody of a 19-year-old Caucasian male in Polk County.
- They say a Georgia woman, 43-year-old Jennifer Meers of Stone Mountain, delivered 26 pounds of meth in a suitcase to an undercover detective at a Lakeland hotel on March 13 and another 35 pounds on March 19.
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Meth, also known as ice, crank, speed and Tina, is no longer being cooked in the stereotypical low-grade, trailer park meth kitchens. Instead, “super labs” in Mexico are making very pure and cheap meth that then gets smuggled into Florida by Mexican cartels. Reding wrote that meth had a “seeming distinctiveness among drugs” because of “the general resistance to associating narcotic use with small towns.” Since exploding onto the American drug scene in the 1980s, meth has spread rapidly across the U.S, but we haven’t nailed down a single stronghold for it.
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Although meth capital of florida homegrown meth labs are still found across the country, most meth now comes to the U.S. from Mexican drug cartels. It is also difficult to detect at the borders because meth can be dissolved in ordinary containers, such as bottled drinks. Once it is in the hands of American traffickers, it is converted back into crystal form for distribution. Missouri claims the title of America’s meth production capital as of 2019, hosting 27.6 meth labs per 100,000 residents.2 The availability of methamphetamine has increased since 2012, resulting in a decline in street value. According to the Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS), substanceabuse-related treatment admissions to publicly funded facilities in Floridaincreased from 52,997 in 1997 to 67,734 in 2001.
Several years ago, the county suffered under the unofficial nickname of the methamphetamine capital of Florida. In 1984, Polk voters elected a sheriff who would be found to have ties to a white-supremacist group. He was forced to resign in 1987 after a protracted and widely reported series of scandals. The Polk Sheriff’s Office dealt with the aftermath of much of the mayhem, which means media audiences experienced it vividly. Yet, day after day in December and January, during an extraordinary six-week eruption of crime and mayhem that left 21 people dead, Polk seemed to live up to its reputation as a menacing Mayberry. Never mind that Polk ranks ninth in population among Florida’s 67 counties, or that rapid growth and commercial investment have made it ground zero for far-reaching debates over the future of shipping, the I-4 corridor and higher education priorities.
- The production of meth also leads to contaminating surrounding properties with toxic waste and chemicals.
- She said methamphetamine use, especially among teenagers, should be targeted.
- What drug agents are seeing a lot more of is a particularly pure form of methamphetamine, called ice, Waller said.
- The body had 17penetrating, blunt force wounds to the head and multiple contusions, abrasions,and lacerations to the skull.
- Interstate 75 runs fromMiami through Atlanta, Knoxville, Cincinnati, and Detroit and extends to theU.S.-Canada border.
The Comeback Drug: Why the Meth Epidemic is Re-emerging in Florida
The DEA office in Greensboro reported having a 2,000% increase in meth seizures since the fiscal year 2017. It is expected that drug traffickers are sending bulk shipments of meth straight to North Carolina from Mexico. With a total of 144 incidents, Indiana has the third-highest meth prevalence. Evansville was once described as the meth capital of the world, although the number of incidents has greatly decreased.
In 1999 and 2000, 5.9 percent of those surveyed in Florida reportedhaving abused an illicit drug at least once in the month prior to the survey,compared with 6.3 percent nationwide. The 2001 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS)report indicates that 40.2 percent of high school students in Florida reportedhaving abused marijuana at least once in their lifetime and that 23.1 percentreported current use (use in the last 30 days) of the drug. The survey alsoindicates that 8.3 percent of the students reported lifetime cocaine use, 4.0percent reported current cocaine use, 3.7 percent reported lifetime heroin use,and 7.6 reported lifetime methamphetamine use.
Distribution
(See MethamphetamineProduction Methods text box.) In southern Florida methamphetamine isinfrequently available but availability is increasing. According to FDSS data,the amount of methamphetamine seized by federal law enforcement officials inFlorida fluctuated but increased dramatically overall from nearly 10 kilogramsin 1997 to 85 kilograms in 2001. Methamphetamine can be snorted, smoked, or injected and often isused in conjunction with other drugs, particularly pharmaceuticals.