Feds, state net 7 in meth bust

March 28, 2008 01:47 pm

Staff Report

State and federal law enforcement officers netted seven people, including some from the West Winfield area, Wednesday for alleged involvement in the production of methamphetamines, troopers said Thursday night.

The operation involved state police from Troop C and Troop D, the Oneida County Sheriff’s Department, the state Division of Parole, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Community Narcotics Enforcement Team.

The state police Mobile Response Team and a unit specializing in clandestine narcotics laboratories also participated in the roundup, which troopers said occurred in Herkimer, Oneida and northern Otsego counties. Those arrested were charged under the federal Combat Methamphetamines Epidemic Act that became effective April 8, 2006, troopers said.

Under that act, it is illegal to purchase more than 9 grams of psuedoephedrine and ephedrine in a 30-day period. The drugs are commonly found in cold, cough and allergy medicines and are a primary ingredient of methamphetamine. A standard package of Sudafed has 1.4 grams of psuedoephedrine in 48 tablets, according to the product’s label.

Names of those arrested have not been released by state police. Troopers said some of those arrested face additional state charges of endangering the welfare of a child, various degrees of criminal possession of a controlled substance and illegal manufacture of methamphetamines. Three homes where some of those arrested lived contained clandestine methamphetamine labs or components of labs, troopers said.

The investigation is continuing and additional charges are being compiled, they said.

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