Sting nets 305 arrests for meth-making ingredient purchases

TULSA - Law enforcement agencies in Oklahoma are doing their best to stop meth labs before they start.

In a press conference Tuesday, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control (OBN) announced a partnership with local law enforcement agencies to halt the illicit purchasing of pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in manufacturing methamphetamine.

Last year, Oklahoma law enforcement agencies seized 818 meth labs, 343 busts occurred in Tulsa County. Officials say the state is on pace to bust more than 900 meth labs in this year.

“Northeastern Oklahoma has seen an epidemic in meth labs over the past several years," said OBN Spokesperson Mark Woodward. "Meth cooks are routinely recruiting people to purchase the key ingredient, pseudoephedrine, for their labs. It’s not uncommon to see carloads of people going from store to store to buy pseudo-products, a trend called 'smurfing'. If their sales are blocked at one pharmacy, they simply go to other stores.”

The increase has law enforcement agencies working overtime to stop these criminals in their tracks.

Woodward said agents and officers from dozens of departments have been involved in a sting over the past few days that targeted customers who purchased pseudoephedrine to cook meth.

During the sting, agents and officers did surveillance on customers and 20 different stores throughout northeastern Oklahoma, focusing on customers with unusual or suspicious behavior as they attempt to buy pseudo-products, customers blocked from completing their purchases and people with previous meth-related convictions.

Since Friday, 305 suspects have been arrested and 10 meth labs have been seized.

OBN Director Darrell Weaver wants this operation to be a messages to those trying to illegally buy of possess pseudoephedrine.

Weaver released the following statement Tuesday:

“OBN, along with local law enforcement and prosecutors are aggressively pursuing individuals illegally buying pseudoephedrine to manufacture meth. Methamphetamine is a drug that is leaving a path of collateral damage across our state, including destroying lives, tearing families apart, and costing millions of dollars in enforcement, incarceration and hazardous material contamination costs. We will do everything possible to eliminate this drug problem that threatens the safety of Oklahomans.”