‘One-pot’ meth labs are declining but Mexican cartels have made the drug cheaper and deadlier

LANSING — When Battle Creek police and parole officers inspected a home May 6 on the city’s south side, they found something unusual.

The methamphetamine, marijuana and syringes they seized were almost expected, but the one-pot meth cooker was a surprise. It’s something police don’t see often anymore.

As recently as five years ago, meth was commonly made at home in plastic 2-liter pop bottles with ingredients bought at drug stores. Police and first responders would find dumpsites littering rural roadways, or would rush to fires caused by exploded home cookers.

But those days are mostly over, Michigan law enforcement officials say.

Now, the meth is coming from Mexico.

With that comes an increase in meth-related overdoses, said Stephen VerDow, a Michigan Drug Enforcement Administration assistant special agent. The Mexican meth is purer, cheaper and increasingly has been reported to be mixed with fentanyl, a deadly combination. 

“Methamphetamine has been a scourge for many years and continues to wreak havoc across the country,” VerDow said.

Why your city might be an ideal target for Mexican cartels  

In the past five to seven years, the number of domestic meth labs have decreased in the U.S. as Mexican drug cartels brought in cheaper and purer drugs, VerDow said. The cartels bring the drugs into the U.S. with commercial and personal vehicles, making any cities near major highways – like Lansing, Battle Creek, Howell and Brighton – ideal areas to target.

“The increased commercial vehicle traffic in these areas help them blend in better with legitimate commercial business,” VerDow said. “Drugs can be distributed in very remote areas as well, but the (cartels) want to stay under the radar as much as possible.”

They aggressively and violently market and sell their products, VerDow said, leading to the ability to sell meth in the U.S. with “huge profit margins.”

This has fueled the decrease of what officials call “one-pot” domestic meth laboratories, VerDow said.

Michigan State Police Detective Lt. Bill Eberhardt said the number of one-pot meth labs Tri-County Narcotics, which covers Ingham, Eaton and Clinton counties, responds to have dropped dramatically. 

The number of domestic meth laboratories rose throughout the early 2000s and peaked in 2004 before dropping to the lowest numbers since 2000, VerDow said.

Eberhardt said people run less of a risk purchasing the drug than making it. Because of that, Mexican drug cartels are the greatest criminal drug threat in the U.S., according to the DEA's 2018 National Drug Threat Assessment report. 

Seizures of meth at the Mexican border increased from 8,900 pounds in 2010 to nearly 82,000 pounds through Nov. 2, 2018, which is when the DEA report was released. 

To trace the drugs back to the cartels, Livingston County Sheriff Michael Murphy said his department works backward in drug cases. He said some people will offer the name of their dealer when arrested, and the supplier can be traced through them.

Getting sober

The first time Carrie D., of Lansing, tried meth was an accident.

It was around the time she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016. Carrie thought it was cocaine, which she said she had occasionally used. Instantly, she was hooked on meth. 

“With meth you can’t not have it once you’ve done it,” Carrie said. “Once you are stuck in the cycle you are stuck.”

The State Journal is not using Carrie's full name to protect her identity.

After her boyfriend overdosed on heroin, Carrie said she knew she needed help. Her boyfriend had been dead for four months and she still hadn't dealt with her grief. She said she was high at his funeral because she didn’t want to feel the pain.

“I walked into Sparrow Hospital. I told them I am not leaving until you put me into a rehab facility,” she said. “Within two hours, everything was set up.”

She entered rehab at U.S. Addiction Services and is now seven months sober. The hardest part of recovery is detox, she said, which usually takes between three and seven days. 

“I would rather go through chemo again than dope sickness,” she said.

Carrie is working at U.S. Addiction Services, helping past clients and those who want to leave rehab early. She can relate to them, she said, because she knows what they've been through. 

“You have to live this lifestyle to know," Carrie said. "They are not going to talk to somebody that they think they are going to judge them.”

Carrie said working at U.S. Addiction Services helps her maintain her sobriety.

“I do this to bring something good into the sorrow that I have, into the loss of my boyfriend," Carrie said. "I couldn’t save him, but working here I have saved many lives.”

What makes it a toxic, dangerous drug

Meth is a drug so dangerous and toxic that houses are condemned whenever laboratories are discovered inside. 

Clean-up crews wear special suits and masks to avoid breathing in or touching the toxic chemicals. 

The one-pot labs, especially, are a significant threat to the community, Eaton County, Undersheriff Jeff Cook said. The "volatile chemicals, explosions and chemical reactions" can harm not only the producer, but everyone around them. 

"It's a horrifically addictive drug that destroys people's lives," Cook said. 

High doses of meth can cause convulsions, cardiovascular collapse, stroke or death, according to the DEA. 

In 2013, a meth lab exploded in a second-floor apartment on the same block as Charlotte's City Hall and Fire Department, causing thousands of dollars of damage. The man who lived there was convicted of operating a meth lab and was sentenced to at least three years in prison, and had to pay $18,000 in restitution. 

People use common household items like pseudoephedrine or ephedrine tablets, lithium batteries, camp fuel, starting fluid and cold packs and mix them inside a container like a plastic 2-liter pop bottle to make their homemade drugs, according to the DEA.  

If they do it wrong, they might destroy their house or apartment complex. Even worse, they could end up dead or seriously injured. 

Michigan sees a decrease in one-pot labs

A few years ago, Lt. Matt Robinson led a meth task force for the Battle Creek Police Department. The task force included several officers who had special training and were issued protective suits and a trailer to collect the dangerous one-pots.

Police used to find 50 one-pot operations and uncover at least a dozen dump sites each year.

He said officers found only a single dump site this spring after the snow melted and he can recall making only two active one-pot busts in 2018. Robinson expects the meth task force will be dismantled.

“Now you can buy it and it's ready to go and you don’t have to deal with all the other ingredients,” Robinson said. “It is cheaper to buy than it is to produce.”

In Eaton County, Cook said he too has seen a drastic reduction in one-pots. But the problem hasn't gone away. 

Addicts have flocked to the cheaper, high-quality drugs and left behind the backyard meth labs and dangerous explosions now that the risk of arrest and prosecution to make the drugs is higher than going to a dealer and buying it, Cook said. 

"The type has switched to predominantly being manufactured by criminal organizations versus people doing it in their backyard," Cook said. 

A federal law that regulates the amount of pseudoephedrine — a decongestant that's also a critical ingredient in meth — one person could buy was passed in 2005, and Michigan officials followed suit in 2011. 

“Michigan has done a pretty good job of detecting and monitoring the components needed to make meth," Eberhardt said. “Also the state has done a good job educating the public.”

Why meth is almost immediately addictive 

The addictive stimulant causes users to constantly chase their next high, taking stronger doses of the drug each time, according to the DEA.

It’s not a drug that you “just try,” as it’s almost immediately addictive, Eberhardt said.

“The first time you use meth it caused your brain to completely use all the dopamine,” he said. “You never get that amount of dopamine back. Someone who is addicted to meth is always chasing the first high.”

The addiction caused by meth is why Livingston County Circuit Court Judge Michael Hatty, who took over the county's specialty drug court in 2010, doesn’t see a lot of older meth addicts in his drug court.

“You don’t see many older meth addicts,” he said. “They’re dead.”

Jessica Lamson, executive director for Mid-Michigan Recovery Services, said the organization serves about 1,000 clients in 21 counties a year. About 17% of those use meth.

Meth increases the amount of natural dopamine in the brain, which reinforces drug-taking behavior, making the user want to keep doing drugs, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. 

That's part of why treating meth addiction is a layered process, Lamson said.

“The disease itself is a physical disease,” she said. “Every single one of our clients needs help other than physical needs.”

Lawson said she still sees a lot of fear of stigmatization from those who struggle with addiction. That fear can keep people from seeking help.

“These people are human beings that have a physical health problem,” she said.

Where to get help

If you are seeking help, you can call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Hotline at 1-800-662-4357. Learn more about the resources they offer online. 

Find a list of treatment facilities in Michigan online at the Drug Rehab Service's website. 

Treatment facilities in the Lansing area

Mid-Michigan Recovery Services, 517-887-0226

RISE Recovery Community, 517-708-8688

Treatment facilities in Livingston County

Ascension Brighton Center for Recovery, 810-227-1211

Key Development Center, 810-220-8192

Treatment facilities in the Battle Creek area

A Forever Recovery, 877-757-0748

Groups Recover Together, 269-234-2283

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Contact reporter Kara Berg at 517-377-1113 or kberg@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @karaberg95. Contact Kayla Daugherty at 517-552-2848 or kdaugherty@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @KayDaugherty92. Contact Trace Christenson at 269-966-0685 or tchrist@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on Twitter: @TSChristenson.