New meth process uses garden fertilizer

Des Moines, Iowa-Iowa’s merchants are being advised to be alert to lawbreakers who are producing methamphetamine with a new and more dangerous “cooking” method that is faster, uses only a single pot, and substitutes garden fertilizer for anhydrous ammonia. According to state’s drug-busters, this so-called “one-pot” or “shake-and-bake” method could proliferate, because the ingredients are all contained in a single vessel and cook in 2½ to 3 hours, compared to six to seven hours with the old method. “The other advantage is there is no ammonia smell,” Ken Frampton, director of the Iowa division of narcotics enforcement, told Green Markets. “Last year in Iowa we had seven of these one-pot locations that we could locate. We’ve already had 28 through the first nine months of this year.” Frampton added, “Over the last couple of years there seemed to be a slight decline in meth activity, but recently we’re seeing an increase, and the one-pot method is part of that increase.” One-pot makers use fertilizer spikes instead of the anhydrous, and narcotics officers are seeing those items being purchased in pretty large quantities at Home Depots or other places where there are garden centers. Frampton and others on the force are urging Iowans to report any suspicious activity, including the purchase of large numbers of lithium batteries the type used in cameras and yard and tree fertilizers, cold packs, and pseudoephedrine cold medicine. “If someone buys a whole bunch of fertilizer, but doesn’t ask about gardening, or buys 12 cases of cold packs, it might be worth reporting.”