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Jill Atwood ReportingToday Drug Enforcement agents are reminding retailers to be their eyes and ears inside stores. It's not really what customers are buying that concerns agents, but how much of it and in what combinations.
A couple red flag items include cat litter, Sudafed cold medicine, matches, and these are just a few of the common items.
This morning, representatives from the DEA, the attorney general's office and lots of retailers talked about the methamphetamine problem in Salt Lake and what they can do to stop it. They had a table full of items to be on the lookout for, especially if bought in combination or in large quantities. The idea being if you suspect something's wrong, give agents a call.
Barry Jamison, Drug Enforcement Administration: "When someone walks into a our store and asks for as much cold medicine as they can buy and they ask for a hundred cartons of matches and a garden hose we would love it if something ticked off in their mind that something is not right here."
Since 1999 the number of meth labs discovered in homes and hotel rooms have gone down, but still the demand for the drug is out there, bigger than ever.
Another big indicator could be that a person comes back for similar items in the same day or you have a group of people buying a lot of the same thing.
The DEA brags they've made a dent in this problem and a lot of meth makers are in prison, but it is also realistic; the drug is cheap, easy to get, and very addictive.
