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Courtney Orton reporting Three meth labs busted in two Southern Utah cities in just one day. That's not typical, considering that narcotics officers seized only three meth labs in Utah all last year. But Utah could start seeing more meth labs pop up again.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the number of meth labs in Utah has decreased in the last several years and so has the drug's quality. That's the reason narcotics officers believe users will again start making their own at home.
Brad, with the Washington County Drug Task Force says, "They want to use good stuff. So they might start to cook their own again and just make small amounts for their personal use."
That's what Washington County narcotics officers say was going on inside a home on Rocky Road in an upscale St. George neighborhood and at another home in Bloomington Hills. "When the parents were gone, they would set up their cook and cook their meth at the house without the parents being aware of it," Brad said.
When officers entered the home's garage, they were overcome by fumes and had to be rushed to the hospital. The man authorities think was cooking meth at the house is still at large, but police arrested a couple of his friends.
Forty-four-year-old David Acampora was arrested at another home in Bloomington Hills after officers found meth lab equipment, chemicals and the finished product in his possession. And 24-year-old Tamitha Hamill was arrested when police found the same thing at her home in Santa Clara.
"These are the first labs we've had in southern Utah in the last two years," Brad said.
It's the result of new laws that restrict access to ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, the drugs essential to manufacturing methamphetamine. Drug officers say when users can't get their hands on those drugs, they'll try just about anything. "This time they had cough syrup that had some pseudoephedrine in it. I've never seen them extract pseudoephedrine from it, but they might start to try," Brad said.
The price of meth is also up. Today an ounce costs more than $1,600 compared to the $700 price tag meth had in years past. Drug Task Force officers say that is another reason these mom-and-pop type meth labs could start popping up.
E-mail: corton@ksl.com
