The Lehigh Valley, particularly Northampton County, has experienced a flood of methamphetamine activity in recent years.
The popularity of methamphetamine in the Lehigh Valley and elsewhere in Pennsylvania has caught the attention of U.S. Sen. Bob Casey.
The Democrat sent a letter to the head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to request technical assistance in the commonwealth’s battle against the increasingly prevalent drug.
“Officials in local municipalities have indicated that they have limited means to fight the production of this drug and need help identifying any resources and technical assistance that may be available to them,” Casey wrote in his letter to DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart.
Northampton County Assistant District Attorney Michelle Kluk, who specializes in drug crimes, said she welcomes any assistance from the federal government with what she called a rapidly expanding problem. She believes Northampton County is among the leaders statewide in cases involving methamphetamine manufacturing.
“Every aspect of a meth lab case is very sensitive,” Kluk said.
Casey suggested the Department of Justice should assist and coordinate operations, provide ways to raise community awareness and allow local agencies access to government databases about labs uncovered throughout the state.
John Rizzo, Casey’s press secretary, said the senator hopes federal efforts to combat the rampant drug use can enhance those same battles locally. Rizzo said Casey heard firsthand from police about the need for extra tools in the fight against meth production in the commonwealth.
A dangerous scene
Law enforcement in the Lehigh Valley rely heavily on the work of the Pennsylvania State Police Clandestine Unit, a specially trained branch of the department with the equipment necessary to handle the potentially volatile scenes created by meth-making operations.
Detective Sgt. Michael Martinko, leader of the Bethlehem police vice unit, said he remembers the DEA preparing local municipal departments for a meth outbreak in the late 1990s and providing special training and information about the spread of the drug, which at the time had a tight grip on the Midwest. Martinko said it took a while for meth to gain the foothold it now has in the area, and with simpler cooking methods, it’s being produced in more places, including inside vehicles.
A quiet Bethlehem neighborhood was the center of one of the more high-profile cases this year. An operation in the basement and garage at 1965 Greenleaf St. was the scene of a serious fire that was sparked by the chemical mixing procedure hours before a planned police raid at the residence.
Daniel Houser, who claimed he was the only one behind the meth operation there, was sent to state prison for up to 11 years after pleading guilty to many of the more serious charges. Three others, including homeowner Elaine Noone, 65, are still facing trial in the case.
Martinko said another round of updated training could do law enforcement some good.
“Our biggest challenge is … that when you go to one of those scenes it’s basically a hazmat situation,” Martinko said.
Kluk agreed, saying there is almost too much reliance on an already stretched thin state police unit. And it’s not just processing the scene, Kluk said. The work for investigating and analyzing evidence of a meth lab occurs in the already backlogged state police laboratories.
“It just takes forever,” she said of the lab results. “And that’s because of the volume of the cases.”
Spreading the word
Casey also expressed an interest in bringing more awareness about the drug to the community with the help of the DEA. Kluk said that’s never a bad idea.
Kluk, when speaking with children about the dangers of drugs, said the message to avoid meth can be a powerful one if it’s paired with visual aids and examples. The drug, she said, differs dramatically from plant-based substances such as marijuana or even cocaine, which can seem less threatening to young people.
“When kids see the chemicals that go into this drug and the kind of things it does to your body, you can see on their faces the actual shock of it,” Kluk said. “I think, for a portion of the population, it will prevent them from using or experimenting.”
But should meth continue to grow in popularity and use, Martinko said, something will have to give.
“State police, from a budgetary standpoint, they’re the one affected the most,” Martinko said. “If this really blows up and balloons out, they’re probably going to need more than the few teams they have scattered across the state.”