The toxic and volatile dangers of investigating amethamphetamine laboratory have prompted law enforcement agenciesto institute specialized training for these crimes.

In the Lincoln County area, at least six officers are trained inclandestine laboratory investigations. Two are agents with theMississippi Bureau of Narcotics, two are with the Lawrence CountySheriff’s Department, one with the Brookhaven Police Department,and one is with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department.

MBN Agents Conner Magee and Chad Griffin both received theirtraining about two years ago when meth was making its initialinvasion of the state. Magee was trained at Quantico, Va., andGriffin attended an MBN training symposium in Jackson withapproximately 50 other MBN agents.

Griffin said the number of certified meth technicians in thestate has remained stable at about 50, although he and Magee arethe only two agents in MBN District 9 dedicated to clandestinelaboratory investigations.

“It keeps us busy,” he said. “The increase is unbelievable. Wedo nothing but work meth cases now.”

Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department Narcotics Agent JimmyBarton said he completed his training at Quantico in March.

“I was on the list for training for a long time,” he said.”There is such a high demand for it that it took me five years toget in.”

Lawrence County is unique in that it has two deputies, Bartonand Adrian Ready, with meth lab training.

“It is very unusual,” Barton said. “The problem is that MBNcan’t work them all. They’re short-handed and they don’t have thefunds either. With our training, we can help them out by workingour own cases and assisting them if needed.”

The training, they say, is not so much about law enforcement asit is about safety around the hazardous materials associated withoperating a meth lab.

“The certification training is basically a minimal knowledge ofchemicals and chemical reactions and advanced knowledge on how tohandle those chemicals,” Magee said.

The training only provides knowledge on the chemicals used inillegal drug manufacturing, focusing on which chemicals do not mixwell with others and the chemical reaction they can expect if theydo mix.

For example, Magee said, mixing lithium and water, both used inthe production of meth, can cause an explosion.

They also learn the proper techniques for investigating anexpected laboratory.

Magee said there are about five steps to a successfulinvestigation, although they are not normally broken down thatway.

The first, he said, is to clear the house of suspects and searchfor booby-traps.

Meth lab operators are often well armed, and their laboratoriesare occasionally booby-trapped. Weaponry, ranging from singlefirearms to arsenals of high-powered weapons and explosives, arecommonly found at laboratory sites.

“You’re always dealing with guns,” Magee said. “They’re paranoidand always carry a gun. It’s not just for law enforcement, but alsoother cooks.”

Fortunately, however, most of the labs in this area have notbeen booby-trapped.

“I have not seen but two booby-traps,” he said.

Some, however, are potentially lethal. An officer in NorthMississippi investigating a lab last year was shot when he set offa tripwire that triggered a shotgun on the other side of the door.He survived a shoulder injury.

The means of making both lethal and non-lethal booby-traps isdisappointingly easy to get, Magee said.

He keeps a singed copy of an Anarchists Cookbook he took from alab that had caught fire. The book, which describes how to make andutilize booby-traps of all kinds, can be purchased off the Internetor found at gun shows. The book is also popular among such fringegroups as militias and neo-Nazis.

Some of the traps featured in the book include doors wired tothe trigger of a gun, fish hooks dangling from trees, tripcordsonto punji stakes and the proper placement of bear and other animaltraps.

“Those are all examples that have been found in the state ofMississippi,” Magee said.

Once the structure is clear of suspects and booby-traps, Mageesaid, the meth technicians gear up in chemical retardant suits.

“When we’re suited up, we look like the Stay-Puft MarshmallowMan,” Magee joked, referring to the archnemesis of the Ghostbustersmovie.

The white, hooded suits are entirely self-contained and sealedto prevent any exposure to outside air. Boots and gloves are tapeddown to prevent the flow of air into them. The techs then put on aself-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) similar to those used byscuba divers and firefighters. The hood is then sealed withtape.

“We spend anywhere from a half hour to an hour taping andsealing each other up,” Griffin said.

The prevention of air flow also makes cooling the body nearlyimpossible, Magee said, and the suits heat up quickly and stayhot.

“In the middle of summer it’s almost unbearable,” Magee added,”and we have to stay in these things for hours sometimes.”

The suits are not infallible, however, as Magee can readilyattest.

About a year ago, the two agents were investigating a lab inNatchez when Magee made a mistake and breathed in some anhydrousammonia. The gas immediately siphoned the water content of hislungs and gave him chemical burns in his respiratory tract.

“I just wasn’t sealed up good,” he said. “I thought I was, but Iwasn’t. It takes your breath away, and you can’t breathe.”

Griffin escorted him from the lab. Long term exposure to the gascan be lethal and cause pulmonary edema.

“We always try to have two agents in the site with their gearon, so if one agent goes down, the other can get him out,” Griffinsaid.

When the agents return to the lab, the first thing they do isventilate it by opening windows and doors, Magee said. Then theywork to identify and separate the chemicals from those they wouldreact negatively with.

To accomplish this, the agents have a device they can use totest individual chemicals once they have it tentatively identified.The device will display a positive or negative result based on whatthe agents test for.

The fourth step is to gather evidence.

“We also send samples to the crime lab and they are testedagain,” Griffin said. “They send us a report stating it testedpositive for a specific chemical. The crime lab can then testify asto what we sent up there. This shows a chemical chain that proves alab was on the site.”

Additional testing on items commonly used in the production ofmeth that test positive for chemical contamination can add furtherweight to the evidence of a lab existing on the site. Commonhousehold items used in the cooking of meth include Pyrex dishes,blenders, 20 oz. plastic soda bottles and thermoses, amongothers.

“We get a trail of paperwork that seems endless,” Griffinsaid.

And it’s not a cheap investigation to the agency making thecase, Griffin said. Crime lab testing costs about $50 per sample,or exhibit.

“We can have anywhere from five to 20 exhibits per lab that needto be tested,” he said. “It’s definitely expensive.”

The last step is also expensive, but is paid for by the stateand federal government through a fund established for use by theDepartment of Environmental Quality. The agents notify DEQ of ameth lab in need of clean-up, and the state agency dispatches ahazardous materials team to conduct the actual clean up of the siteand dispose of the chemicals.

Editor’s Note: Law enforcement officers are not the onlyemergency personnel in danger from meth labs. Part six in thisseries will explore the dangers faced by others and how they arehandling the threat.