Tony Thompson, the sheriff's public information officer, started the ball rolling with a media blitz last March called Welcome to Meth Warfare. Black Hawk County includes Waterloo (Iowa's third-largest city) and is largely urban. It's also home to several ag supply and custom application businesses. Anhydrous ammonia thefts from nurse and storage tanks had reached an alarming level, and Thompson thought it was time to inform local citizens and farmers of what was going on. Backgrounders were prepared on how methamphetamine is made, the precursor ingredients needed (including anhydrous), how thieves roam rural roads looking for tanks to victimize, how to recognize and report a suspected meth lab and the dangers of a lab exploding or catching fire in an urban neighborhood.

Articles in the local press got the word out, which resulted in an increase in calls to the law enforcement officials but didn't avert many thefts. So Thompson initiated phase two of his meth warfare campaign. He and fellow officer Lance Teisinger visited local area ag industries and business leaders to encourage contributions for funding a supply of locks designed specifically for nurse and larger storage tanks.

“We're fortunate to have a number of large ag industries in the Waterloo area,” Thompson explains. “We explained to them that this wasn't just a problem for the farm suppliers. In a larger sense it's a community problem — a social problem — harmful to family life. Meth labs create a danger to neighborhoods. Most important, our kids are the final victims of anhydrous theft.”

Thompson's persistence paid off to the tune of about $13,000 in contributions. “We had looked around and found what we thought is the best locking system available, right here in Iowa,” he says. C and K Mfg. Inc., near Humboldt, IA, had developed Tanks-A-Lok security devices in 1999. Thompson worked with owners Dean and Vivian Kitley last October to lock up about 125 anhydrous tanks at seven Black Hawk County retail outlets. A system was devised so that all Tanks-A-Lok devices at one location can be locked and unlocked with a single key.

Results were dramatic. Thompson says reports of anhydrous thefts have dropped from about five a week to zero. “We're proud of our achievement, but realize we need a statewide or multistate program to really make a dent in meth traffic. Last year more than 800 meth labs were reported in Iowa alone, and the trend is the same in all Midwestern states,” he says.

To that end, Thompson is working on planning a meeting with the Governor's office to lobby for expansion of the meth warfare campaign. “There's really no downside to it. If we could get $1.5 or $2 million in state funds committed to an effort similar to Black Hawk County, we could lock up nearly every anhydrous nurse tank in the state,” he says.

For more information on Iowa meth-fighting activities, contact Tony Thompson, public information officer, Black Hawk County Sheriff's Office, 225 E. Sixth St., Waterloo, IA 50703, or e-mail tthompson@forbin.com.

The “lock up” idea is also catching on in other states. Growers Co-op, Terre Haute, IN, was one of C and K Mfg.'s first customers. Officers of the multisite farm supplier approved purchase of more than 300 Tanks-A-Lok devices last year.

Joe Hill, risk coordinator for the co-op, says anhydrous thefts dropped at least 90% after the locks were installed. “We were getting hit all hours of the day or night. We often use nurse tanks for storage, so they were really vulnerable, but even so-called ‘empty’ tanks sitting by the field or returned to the co-op for refilling contain four or five gallons of liquid, and that's all these guys are after.” Losing a few gallons of anhydrous in itself is not costly, but if the thieves don't shut the valve off in their rush to steal and get away, it can be extremely dangerous and cost dealers hundreds or thousands of dollars, especially in light of the current high prices.

Law officers in Illinois are trying a different approach to catch anhydrous thieves and report good success. Worried by an increasing trend in thefts, the Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical Association (IFCA) provided $10,000 about a year ago to the Illinois State Police to develop training materials and to purchase battery-powered military-grade surveillance equipment for on-site monitoring in rural areas.

“We have 11 officers strategically located throughout the state to focus on the meth crisis, but we can't put an officer at every anhydrous retail facility,” says Master Sergeant Dwain Hill, unit commander of the Illinois State Police technical investigations unit. “So we specialize in audio-video electronic surveillance.”

“Meth labs create a danger to neighborhoods. Most important, our kids are the final victims of anhydrous theft.”
Tony Thompson, Sheriff's public information officer Black Hawk County, Iowa

Hill's investigators are nationally recognized experts at “quick plant” snooping devices. They strategically locate alarm sensors and video cameras at remote locations to capture vehicle descriptions, license numbers and often a direct camera shot of the thief's face. After experimenting a bit, they were able to equip nurse tanks with a hidden video camera and alarm sensor. These “Trojan horse” units are pulled from site to site where theft reports are high.

“We can quickly position the surveillance nurse tanks in areas where thieves have been active and deliberately park them in easy-to-spot locations. We've been so successful that I can almost guarantee that if we set up in a given area, we'll catch someone within a week,” says Master Sergeant Hill.

Patty Taylor, certified crop advisor with Bergmann-Taylor Inc., St. Jacob, IL, can verify fast results from the spy rig. Five days after Hill's unit set up at the Bergmann-Taylor facility, they had two anhydrous thieves locked up in the Madison County jail.

Taylor, an IFCA board member, helped promote the idea of teaming up with the State Police's special unit. “A couple years ago, we thought it would never happen to us, but when we started finding hoses on the ground around the tanks and other signs of disturbance, we knew we were being hit,” she says.

Since the electronic surveillance program started, more than 300 meth labs have been located and shut down in Illinois. “Once we have a thief in jail, it's often fairly easy to get them to tell us who they're working for, or who taught them to steal the anhydrous. And that's who we really want behind bars,” says Master Sergeant Hill.

In many cases, thieves trade stolen raw anhydrous liquid for finished methamphetamine to either use or sell, says Iowa officer Thompson. “It seems like a real deal for the thief and worth the risk of getting caught. A gallon of anhydrous ammonia liquid worth less than 50 cents to a fertilizer dealer converts to two ounces of methamphetamine with a street value of $1,000 an ounce to the drug dealer,” he says.

Recently, state and federal legislators have taken aim at toughening up meth theft laws. Until recently in most Midwestern states, stealing 4 or 5 gals. of raw anhydrous ammonia resulted in only a minor misdemeanor or theft charge — similar to shoplifting — and barely a deterrent to thieves with visions of big-money returns from meth cookers. But in several states, such as Iowa, Illinois and Missouri, it's now a felony to steal anhydrous with the intent to use it as a meth precursor. Federal legislation, lobbied through Congress by the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) and the Iowa Agribusiness Association and signed into law last fall, makes it a felony to transport anhydrous ammonia across state lines to use in cooking meth.

The federal law also authorizes funds for training materials and an additional $500,000 to continue studies at Iowa State University aimed at developing an inert ingredient that, when added to anhydrous ammonia, would eliminate its usefulness in making meth. ARA previously helped secure $250,000 to start the ISU study.

“It's the closest thing to a silver bullet we can find,” thinks Floyd Gaibler, ARA interim CEO. “We're confident the legislation will provide additional funding to complete the project and provide retailers a commercially feasible way to eliminate the usefulness of anhydrous ammonia for making meth.”

Eliminating anhydrous from their recipes won't stop meth makers, since the drug can be made with many different chemical processes. But it will make it tougher and more expensive to get ingredients. Red phosphorus and white phosphorus can both be used, but they are more dangerous and more rigidly controlled. “If meth warfare campaigns can control the easiest types of precursors and force criminals into expensive, more regulated, more dangerous ingredients, we can probably get a better handle on controlling methamphetamine overall,” says Iowa officer Thompson.

Ten theft control tips

1. Never leave a nurse tank where it can be seen from the road.

2. Try to park it in a well-lighted area, but not near a residence.

3. Park so thieves can't easily tap the tank.

4. Set delivery times as close as possible to actual application.

5. Bleed and remove hoses at the end of the day. A typical hose will contain enough ammonia for a batch of meth.

6. Lock up the tanks, if possible.

7. If you don't have locks, place brightly colored plastic wire ties or seals between the valve wheel and the roll cage to facilitate quick visual checks.

8. Know how much you're leaving in a tank, then inspect it first thing in the morning.

9. If you suspect you've been hit, check for reddish chemical-based stains around the tank, but don't disturb the area. Alert local law enforcement.

10. Never attempt to stop a thief. He (or she) might throw a container of ammonia at you in an attempt to get away, and a person under meth influence may become dangerously violent.

Sidebar: Meth warfare tools

Tanks-A-Lok is a good example of applying a farmer's intuitive nature to problem solving. “Back in 1999, after he had read about an increase in anhydrous thefts, my brother-in-law, Dave Christianson, came up with the idea for the locks,” says Vivian Kitley, of rural Humboldt, IA. “He and my husband, Dean, took about five months to build the first Tanks-A-Lok model.” Now three models of the theftproof devices protect more than 5,000 anhydrous tanks in Iowa and other states.

The KC 2000, priced at about $75 (quantity discounts available), is the most popular Tanks-A-Lok. Basically, it consists of a hardened steel cap locked onto the top of the nurse tank valves with a weatherproof padlock. “The shackle is so tough, Dean broke two 3-foot bolt cutters on it to convince himself it would stop a thief,” Vivian says.

Other models include the VK 1000, for larger storage tanks, listed at $150, and the DK 1000, a device for running gear theft prevention, priced at $80. For more information, contact C and K Mfg., Dept. Apply*, Box 252, Humboldt, IA 50548, toll-free 877/332-3440, e-mail: kitley@trvnet.net.

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