Mesa Police Department 2001 Annual Report
News Article

Cops bust drug houses Valleywide

by Tamara Leitner and Bryon Wells
The Mesa Tribune
June 28, 2001

     For four years, residents of an upper-middle-class Mesa neighborhood detected the strong odor of methamphetamine wafting from the corner house where a steady stream of traffic came and went.
     Even a police officer who lived nearby felt helpless when it came to the suspected drug house in his neighborhood.
     "I was frustrated that I couldn't do anything," said Mesa police officer John Damyanovich, explaining that as a resident he couldn't just walk into the house and arrest his neighbor and that it takes time for police to get evidence.
     But the suspected meth lab in the house in the 7300 block of East Madero Avenue was put out of business Wednesday. Police identified three men arrested there as:
     Albert A. Conner, 43, of Apache Junction, charged with manufacturing dangerous drugs and carrying a concealed weapon.
     Rodger E. Dudley, 44, of Apache Junction, charged with manufacturing dangerous drugs, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
     Robert Rathjen, 42, of Mesa, charged with manufacturing dangerous drugs, carrying a concealed weapon, possession of dangerous drugs, possession of drug paraphernalia and child abuse.
     The Mesa bust was one of seven unrelated police raids on Valley labs during a 24-hour period.
     Police admit there are too many labs and often too little time and not enough resources to shut down all of them. Wednesday's bust won't put a dent in the production and sale of meth that flows through the Valley, but officials say the arrests underscore the size and scope of a bigger problem.
     "The meth lab problem continues to plague us," said Arizona Attorney General Janet Napolitano. "In my view this is the number one drug problem in Arizona today."
     The Arizona Department of Public Safety busts between 350 and 400 meth labs a year. Eighty percent of these are in the Valley, DPS Sgt. Tim Kvochik said.
     "They are a growing problem in the Valley," Kvochik said.
     Most of the labs are small, where the drug is cooked in a bedroom, bathroom or kitchen sink. The number of labs in the Valley continues to multiply, police said.
     Maricopa County sheriff's deputies seized 148 meth labs Valleywide from January to May, said narcotics officer Lt. Don Schneidmiller. This year, there have been 136 meth lab raids, he added.
     The most recent raids included:
     A Mesa police detective smelled meth coming from a house in the 7300 block of East Madero Avenue. Three men were arrested on charges ranging from possession and sale of narcotics to child abuse, because there was an 11-year-old girl living in the home.
     A search warrant was served Tuesday night at a suspected meth house in the 4000 block of West Townley Avenue in Phoenix. Four people were arrested on drug-related charges and could face child abuse charges, because eight children were at the house, said Phoenix police detective Tony Morales.
     Phoenix police on Wednesday arrested a man suspected of running a meth lab from the second-floor of a home where he lived with his 81-year-old grandmother, Morales said. The grandmother did not know the drug was being manufactured in her home, police said.
     A third meth lab was busted in Phoenix.
     Tempe police busted a meth house in north Tempe, but refused to disclose the address because of an on-going investigation.
     The Paradise Valley Narcotics Task Force busted a lab in Chino Valley near Paradise Valley.
     The sheriff busted a lab in east Mesa.
     Methamphetamine is described as having a strong odor, like ether, ammonia, acetone or other chemicals.
     Despite numerous statewide attempts to clean up meth labs, the problem continues to rage. A "Meth and Kids" task force was formed to provide specialized attention for children who have been subjected to meth labs.
     A law was passed by the Legislature allowing the state to seek enhanced sentencing when children or vulnerable adults are in a place where dangerous drugs are being manufactured.
     And last year, law enforcement focused on blocking the chemicals meth makers need to brew the drug. Because many of the ingredients used to make methamphetamine can be purchased over the counter in drugstores, the drug is accessible to anyone who can find the recipe on the Internet, police said.
     "It's the accessibility," Schneidmiller said. "It's just so easy to make."
     Ephedrine-based cold and allergy remedies, which make up the key ingredients for methamphetamine, are now monitored at most stores or kept out of reach for general customers.
     Although products such as Sudafed and Actifed are considered over-the-counter, stores such as Walgreens' pharmacies sell them from behind the drug counter. No prescription is needed to buy the product. But some drugstores have experienced a high theft rate of ephedrine-based goods.
     Walgreens also limits the amount of ephedrine products sold, just as several East Valley Target locations do.
     Mesa Target pharmacy manager George Takagi said if a customer were to try to buy too much allergy or cold medicine, the store's cash register would simply not allow it. The register will freeze and can only be over-ridden by a manager, Takagi said. In some instances, the store's corporate security agents also will tail such customers and take notes on their appearance and vehicle to hand off to local law enforcement agencies, Takagi said.
     Mesa police detectives were tipped off that someone living at the house on East Madero Avenue had been purchasing large amounts of Sudafed from Target and Wal-Mart.
     But even with these safeguards and the community working with the police, the meth problem is not diminishing.
     "We have put a tremendous focus on meth in the area, but I'm sorry to say it still remains a large problem in Arizona," Napolitano said.

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