Delaware County authorities crack down on 'smurfing'

JAY, Okla. - Delaware County authorities are taking aim at the people suspected of supplying cold medications to meth cooks.

They conducted an undercover sting Wednesday in Jay, targeting suspects called "smurfs."

Since Arkansas toughened its laws on the purchase pseudoephedrine and several communities in Missouri have passed similar city ordinances, investigators say the sale of medicines containing pseudoephedrine have jumped 300 percent in Delaware County.

Sheriff Harlan Moore tells 2News,"They are either making meth with it, cooking it or they are selling it to people who can't buy it because they've already bought their allotment. They are selling these boxes of allergy medicine for $50 a box. That's quite a profit."

In the past 30 days, nearly 1,500 boxes of these medications have been sold in Delaware County.

Wednesday's sting led to at least one felony arrest and several new investigations. Moore says more importantly, it shows smurfs and the meth cooks to whom they sell they are being watched.

"That's our goal," said Moore. "For this to be a deterrent. We are being proactive. It's a fight. All we can do is let people know we are watching."