Meth Production & Trafficking
Meth is produced in clandestine meth labs, which can be found in a
variety of locations, including rural rentals with absentee landlords,
urban home or apartment rentals, trailers, motel rooms, houseboats,
and mini-storage units.
The number of reported meth lab seizures in the U.S. has steadily decreased each
year from a peak in 2004. However, preliminary 2008 data and reporting indicate
domestic meth production is increasing in some areas of the country and reported
lab seizures in 2008 are outpacing seizures for 2007. The increase in the number
of domestic lab seizures is attributable primarily to a rise in small-capacity
labs, as individuals and criminal groups are increasingly circumventing state
and federal pseudoephedrine (a methamphetamine precursor chemical) sales restrictions
by making numerous small-quantity pseudoephedrine product purchases from multiple
retail outlets – also known as “smurfing.”
Preliminary 2008 data also indicate an increase in the flow of meth into the United States from Mexico – most likely attributable to the efforts of methamphetamine producers in both countries to reestablish the meth supply chain in the face of disruptions and shortages that began occurring in early 2007 and continued into 2008 as the result of Mexico’s enactment of import and sales restrictions on pseudoephedrine.
Mexican drug trafficking organizations have further adapted their operating procedures in several ways – including smuggling restricted precursor chemicals through new routes, importing non-restricted chemicals instead of traditionally used precursor chemicals, and using alternative production methods.
Preliminary data show fairly consistent levels of meth seizure amounts, as there were 6,335.66 kilograms of methamphetamine seized in the United States from January to November 14, 2008.
