HEADS UP!!! Article about cooking methamphetamine in fish houses!!!

[mjhowe]

Just posting this as a heads up....We have a MAJOR problem with people cooking meth wherever they can in Montana, the only way to stop these guys is by being aware and caring enough to call the cops...

Criminals using fish houses to make meth

Bakersfield Californian ^ | 2/10/05 | James MacPherson - AP

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - Ice-fishing houses are being used as bases for

illegal methamphetamine manufacturing, a trend authorities describe as

logical in a troubling sort of way.

"It's been going on for a couple of years now," Attorney General Wayne

Stenehjem said. "We're concerned about it because it's a double hazard - as

soon as (authorities) come up on one of the ice houses, evidence is dumped

down the hole and those toxic chemicals go into the lake."

McLean County Sheriff Don Charging arrested several people last year who

had set up meth labs in fish houses at Lake Audubon.

Increased patrols and public awareness have helped curb the shack-labs at

the lake, though officials believe the activity is continuing because

ice-fishing houses are nearly ideal for meth labs.

"Nobody really ever has patrolled on the lakes in the past," Charging said.

"(Fish houses) have good visibility and it's easy for the evidence to

disappear down in the holes ... unfortunately, it makes logical sense."

Audubon Refuge Manager Gary Williams said the problem is "not a monster

issue yet," but he acknowledged that the fish houses are "a perfect decoy

for cooking meth."

Tim Rader, who builds fish houses in Mandan for Zachmeier Manufacturing,

said he worries the clandestine meth labs on ice could turn into mini toxic

waste sites.

"It's kind of scary - it's crazy," he said.

Rader said his company's fish houses come with anti-theft features such as

locking doors and retractable wheels, so they can't be driven away.

"Nothing will really stop a vandal or a burglar," Rader said. "If they want

to get in, they'll get in."

Meth makers use such ingredients as anhydrous ammonia, solvents, lithium

batteries, hydrogen peroxide and ephedrine or pseudoephedrine tablets.

"Dumping that waste down a hole can't be good," Rader said.

Meth labs first started showing up in North Dakota in rented farm houses,

then in abandoned farmhouses, Charging said. Those farmsteads have been

targeted by authorities, forcing criminals to find other locations to make

meth.

"As soon as one thing is addressed, they move on to something else,"

Charging said. "They always seem to be one step ahead."

Authorities dismantled 260 meth labs in 2004, down from 297 in 2003, data

from the state attorney general's office shows. About one-fourth of the

labs were in northwestern North Dakota's Williams County, which had 67 meth

lab busts last year, compared to 70 in 2003.

Williams County deputies have found evidence that fish houses have been

used as meth labs on Lake Sakakawea, but no arrests have been made, said

Sheriff's Capt. Bob Stancel.

"We know meth has been smoked in them and we've found some paraphernalia

around them," he said. "We know there has been some cooking going on in

them.

"They are well ventilated, somewhat remote and it's kind of difficult to

sneak up on a fish house," Stancel said.

Mel Samuelson, who owns a cafe, lounge and bait shop at Lake Audubon, said

he has noticed "a lot of uniforms out here snooping around" on the lake,

which is home to about 300 fish houses. The increased patrols are

justified, he believes.

"I know some of those people will try anything," Samuelson said. "You can't

leave anything unlocked because there's a lot of goofy guys out there."

Samuelson said the fish houses are part of a little community on the lake,

where neighbors often watch out for one another and report suspicious

activity.

"I think 70 percent of them would turn (a drug maker) in, and 30 percent

will look the other way," he said.

Dean Hildebrand, director of the state Game and Fish Department, said

hunters and anglers have helped report meth labs in the past.

"Be on the alert, and if you see something weird, you might want to give a

sheriff a call," he said. "People are going to do foolish things."

[irvingdog]

Quote:

---

Samuelson said the fish houses are part of a little community on the lake,

where neighbors often watch out for one another and report suspicious

activity.

"I think 70 percent of them would turn (a drug maker) in, and 30 percent

will look the other way," he said.

---

I just can't believe this statistic would be true! If there is one thing we have in common, it's a reliance on the resource. A healthy respect for our lakes.

Or maybe I just want this to be the case.

Truly. You'd call in a suspected meth-lab, right? I mean, c'mon. This stuff is the devil re-incarnated.

[cliffy]

Well, I don’t want to get into a debate but the statistic quoted does not seem that far off to me. It’s been my experience that a lot of people “don’t want to get involved” no matter what type of criminal activity we are talking about. I wouldnt have a problem reporting such activity....but its what I do for a living.

[The_Duckslayer]

If I had reason to suspect

I would make the call to those that serve and protect

Take care and N Joy the Hunt././Jimbo

[ZapBranigan]

Yeah I don't follow the logic of overlooking this stuff. It's not what one would call a victimless Crime. This one targets our children and now our pastime. They are the worst sort of people (and I use the term people questionably). Let's keep our eye out for this.

[Bigbartguy]

agreed. I would call 911 in a hot minute if I suspected someone was doing this (on the ice or anywhere!)

[CorynTracySellHomes]

Great topic that should have more of us up in arms than it does!!!

Maybe someone with more knowledge in here could tell us what to look for, for signs of meth being manufactured.

Cory Frantzick

[BDR]

Smell is a big sign. Ether, Alcohol. If a smell you would expect in an idustrial area is emitting from a fishhouse I would call authorities. Let them sort it out.

Do not confront anyone you suspect. They have a lot at stake. And your life is nothing to them!

[hanson]

Methamphetamine is something I REALLY, REALLY feal strongly about!!! It has to be the devil in drug form. I have never heard of anything so addicting and damaging to a person in my life.

Now society has to pay for and live with recovering meth addicts and babies born addicted to meth for many, many years. Its absolutely sad.

One Sunday morning on my way to the lake (when nothing else was on the radio), I heard a broadcast from a lady from a drug treatment center talking about meth. It just gave me the chills.

-One recovering addict was unable to hold down a job because anytime she was around a ballpoint bic pen, the cheap kind you can disassemble, she felt the urge to smoke meth. See she had used these plastic pens before as pipes for smoking meth.

-Another caller into the show described her son acting strangely and constantly changing the lightbulbs in his parents house. That was the oddest thing I thought. Well, he was using the heat resistant light bulbs as a pipe for smoking meth. His parents described him as becoming more distant, acting strangely, and starting to smell really bad.

The really sad thing is meth is everywhere and could be a habit for anybody you know. Parents, please keep an eye on your children. Establishing a good, honest relationship with your kids is about the best form of prevention. Please hunt & fish with them because that has always been my strongest tie to my parents. If I ever did anything wrong, dad wouldn't take me fishing or worse yet, hunting.

When I say it can happen to anybody, it can. I have a cousin who is definitely spending his life on the wrong side of the tracks. At this point, there is nothing you can do about it. He used to hunt, used to fish, used to go to school, used to live at home and used to be a good guy but that is gone now. He's been living on the streets & in jail for a couple years now. When he's out, he supports his addiction by stealing from people. Sooner or later, he's back in jail and jail hasn't taught him anything. The really sad thing is my aunt & uncle found containers of liquid in their pole barn. You guessed it. Leftovers from a meth lab. Police were immediately contacted and I believed the EPA were called in also to see what kind of contamination occurred.

I don't want to scare anybody but meth is definitely a very popular and very common drug. All I can say is please keep an eye on your kids and hopefully teach them the right things early so they know how to make a right decision when they are forced to make one. They will be forced to make one, thats a part of growing up and peer pressure.

Sorry for my rant but I just can't stand reading any more articles about this.

[Gissert]

http://www.mappsd.org/signs_of_meth_labs.htm

Here is an excellent HSOforum on meth, and it users.

Sacry, scary stuff, folks. I was at a Farm Bureau picnic a couple years ago, and the speaker was a member of the West Central Drug Task Force. He spoke at length about his undercover career. Pot, cocaine, LSD, mushrooms - he said it all paled in comparison to meth. The level of paranoia that a tweaker in the deep stages of addiction can achieve is amazing. The speaker related a story of how one addict killed and chainsawed the faces off cattle across the road, because he thought they were spying on him.

The sad thing is, I have seen friends ruin their lives with it. Once vibrant, fun loving souls turn into skinny, parnoid shells of their former selves.

It breaks my heart.....

[hawkeye43]

I have every sheriff's office number for 7 counties around me and the CO for this area. I would call in a heart beat, nothing could get under my skin more than people that would break into fishhouses and drugs

[Ed Carlson]

Meth kills the mind, the body, the sole, and in the end the very will to live.

If that is not enough, it will continue to kill due to its toxic legacy long after the guy/gall that cooked it up for sale is dead and gone.

If true evil were in a chemical form, it would be Meth.

[M.T. Bucket]

I work in the woods, and one of my greatest fears is stumbling on a meth operation. The people that cook this stuff make a living by killing people, and I don't think I would matter much to them one way or another.

Meth is primarily a problem of economically depressed rural areas. What we really need to focus on is improving these economies. Where there used to be family farms, there are now low paying jobs at the slaughterhouse. When there used to be time for families to spend together, there is now time to work a second minimum wage job or make an hour and a half commute to a city to work.

We forget that we're all in this together and keep pushing for "every man for himself" economic policies. ALL of us--rich, poor, urban, rural, conservative, liberal, old, young...

"A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members." - Mahatma Ghandi

[ATM]

I work as a police officer in the metro, and some of the most sickly looking people i have seen are meth users. A couple of nights ago I arrested a party on a warrant for manufacturing meth and his address was something something lake shore drive. Makes me wonder how many meth labs are on this lake.Adam

[fishface5]

AMT, I agree! I'm a metro and rural EMT. They are some of the most whacked out pts. I've delt with. Be carefull out their man!

[icehousebob]

My oldest son used to be a sheriff's deputy at the Hennepin Co. jail. He watched many people crash after using drugs and he could identify what they were on by how they reacted. Meth was about the worst. People would do or promise anything to get their next fix. One woman was in for trying to sell her little girls to get money for it. Meth users have absolutely no sense of right or wrong. One good cure for young kids busted on their first drug arrest would be to sit them in the jail and watch a real addict come down off a high. Not pretty.

[waterwolff]

If you check out KQRS web site they have what they call the many faces of meth. Kind of a before and after series of mug shots that really show the progression of an insidious addiction

[dsludge]

Remember the old saying, "SPEED KILLS"? It's true on more levels than we can imagine. One of the saddest things is that doctors are perscribing amphetamines to thousands and thousands of kids - RITALIN. There are many forms of this drug and children are becoming dependent on them. If your kids are being treated with these drugs, monitor their use closely and explore alternative treatments.

Modafinil is a relatively new drug being used to treat sleep disorders. It is marketed as "Provigil" and it does not affect the brain's pleasure centers like the amphetamines. It increases awareness and improves concentration. I have "idiopathic hypersomnolence" and my doctor is treating it with modafinil. My insurance company would not cover it and wanted me to use Ritalin - I refused. I wouldn't doubt that Provigil could be used as a substitute treatment for kids with ADD, but I'm not sure.

Is the use of "legal amphetamines" to treat "behaviour disorders" contributing to the popularity of illegal "meth"?

If you think someone is producing "meth", make the call. If you think that it doesn't affect you, you're wrong. Many of us Minnesotans believe in "live and let live", we mind our own business, and we respect our neighbor's privacy. This argument does not apply when it comes to "meth".

SPEED KILLS!

I've said my piece, I better go fishing now.

dsludge