The Clandestine Drug Laboratory Situation In The United States

Clandestine, or illegal, laboratories are operated by the criminal element to circumvent legal requirements with the goal of supplying drugs of abuse to the illicit market. Investigation of clandestine drug manufacturing laboratories is a high priority of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) because elimination of these laboratories will prevent drugs of abuse from reaching the illicit drug traffic. One of the important responsibilities of forensic chemists assisting in investigations of clandestine drug laboratories is to be familiar with the methods of synthesis being used by clandestine laboratory, operators. A review of clandestine laboratory seizures during the period of 1978 through 1981 will be provided to familiarize forensic chemists with current information on the types of laboratories being seized in the United States and the methods of synthesis being used.

The DEA's Clandestine Drug Laboratory Cleanup Program (Cleanup Program) was established in 1989. The Cleanup Program focuses on the removal and disposal of the chemicals, contaminated apparatus, and equipment that can be used to manufacture illegal drugs. The DEA contracts with vendors who have specialized training and equipment to remove the waste from the clandestine drug laboratory sites seized by the DEA or by state and local law enforcement agencies, and to transport the waste to an EPA-regulated transportation, storage, and disposal facility (disposal facility). Based on the quantities of hazardous waste produced, the majority of DEA funded clandestine laboratory cleanups are exempt from EPA regulations. However, the DEA's policy is to manage the hazardous waste from all clandestine drug laboratories as if they were large enough in volume to be subject to EPA regulations.

Clandestine lab operators are not the mad scientists whose genius keeps them pent up in the laboratory contemplating elaborate formulas and mixing exotic chemicals. In fact, their equipment is usually simple, their chemicals household products, and their education basic. Most of the time the elements at the scene are perfectly legal to sell and own. It is only in the combination of all these elements that the lab becomes the scene of a criminal operation. Forensic Investigation of Clandestine Laboratories guides you, step-by-step, through the process of recognizing these illegal manufacturing operations. Then it shows you how to prove it in the courtroom. In non-technical language this book details: How to recognize a clandestine lab How to process the site of a clandestine lab How to analyze evidence in the examination laboratory What to derive from the physical evidence How to present the evidence in court The identification and investigation of a clandestine lab, and the successful prosecution of the perpetrators, is a team effort. A collaboration of law enforcement, forensic experts, scientists, and criminal prosecutors is required to present a case that definitively demonstrates how a group of items with legitimate uses are being used to manufacture an illegal controlled substance. Providing an understanding of how the pieces of the clandestine lab puzzle fit together, this book outlines the steps needed to identify and shut down these operations, as well as successfully prosecute the perpetrators.

This book describes, in step-by-step, illustrated detail, how to set up and run a clandestine drug lab -- without getting caught! Jack B. Nimble reveals how to select a location, discusses safety precautions -- including how and when to shut down -- and gives advice on covering your tracks. Sold for informational purposes only!