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   NEWS : DRUGS : WWW.OREGONLIVE.COM
Asia sees rise of meth megalabs

As controls on ingredients improve the outlook in the U.S. and Mexico, cartels in Asia pose risks to North America

MANILA, Philippines -- Drug agents descending at dawn on a warehouse outside Manila in November 2003 glimpsed what could be the future of America's methamphetamine supply.

Inside, the agents found 1.1 metric tons of crystal meth and the enormous equipment used to make it. There were two steel tanks, 3 feet high and 2 feet wide, for high-pressure hydrogen reactions. A 20-foot-high factory "scrubber" filtered off fumes. Two walk-in freezers held basins of meth in liquid form.

It was one of the largest meth labs that law enforcement officials had ever seen. While a small user lab can manufacture an ounce at a time, and a Mexican "superlab" makes 10 to 100 pounds, the Manila-area megalab churned out 1,100 pounds a week. More megalabs followed in 2004 and 2005 -- in the Philippines, Malaysia, Fiji and Indonesia.

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Tags : Asia meth methamphetamine
Posted on: 2006-12-03 12:47:11