Meth labs have largely disappeared in Minnesota, but seizures of meth manufactured in Mexico are increasing in Minneapolis, reports the city’s Star Tribune. The trend indicates that restrictions on the sale of chemicals used to make meth did not end its use. A Mexican network proved eager to replace the local production, according to drug experts.
As few as five years ago, Hennepin County sheriff’s deputies seized less than a pound of the euphoria-producing crystals per year. But the county’s seizures mushroomed from 37 pounds in 2008 to 74 pounds last year, to 108 pounds, valued at $2.1 million, so far in 2010. What little local production remains centers on a “shake and bake” method that uses 2-liter soda bottles to cheaply make small amounts out of toxic household chemicals and cold pills. There’s little left over to sell, but no lab for agents to find, either. The crude but quick method has some experts predicting a resurgence of locally made meth.