LEON COUNTY, Fla. (WTXL) — Since the beginning of the year, 84 people have been booked into the Leon County Detention Facility on meth related charges.
The Leon County Sheriff's office is searching for ways to tackle the growing epidemic of meth usage in the county. Tuesday, the sheriff's office rode along with 24 year LCSO Veteran Lieutenant Bobby Green, who spoke about the "great epidemic."
"This crystal meth is made in a factory. It is made by chemist that get together and put the right chemicals together and it puts out the purest type of meth that you can have," Lt. Green said. "As compared to the meth that we dealt with six years ago, which was the one-pot meth, it was a hit and miss on how much purity you can get into it and how much actual methamphetamine you can get out of the product."
Deputies say the drug isn't amassed in one particular region of the county and say it can be found both inside Tallahassee and outside near the county limits. Near one neighborhood, Lt. Green says the narcotics unit seized over a kilo of meth with a street value of well over $12,000.
"You would never know that your next door neighbor is selling that much of crystal meth to a base that ranges from age to sex to race and everything." Lt. Green explained.
The meth then creates a vicious cycle of crime as those gripped by addiction chase their next fix by any means necessary.
"People that are on meth, as you know, it takes currency and money to purchase meth," Lt. Green said. "So when you run out of meth, you resort to engaging in illegal activity to support your habit whether it's burglarizing homes or cars to find any little knick-knack items you can to sell, or you trade these items for drugs."
While he says the crimes are seldom violent, Lt. Green says that users are often not aware of what they're doing at certain times when they go out to commit crime.
"It's only acts of violence when [users] are agitated or something that provokes them," Lt. Green said. "The crystal meth it's... I can't actually say it's directly related, but in my personal, professional opinion, I think that the crystal meth epidemic causes the other crimes to actually spike up."
Deputies say they've gotten intel that the meth is being made in Mexico and is being transported to the U.S. via western coastal regions like Panama City. From there, "mules" pick up the meth and bring back large amounts to distribution hubs in Leon County where they are given to suppliers who sell the meth to local users.
Lt. Green says the epidemic is worrying because a high potency version of the drug can be found anywhere and in any neighborhood
"We have interviewed people who have been addicted to meth who say the first time they tried meth, there was an instant addiction. And we have seldomly found people who are addicted to meth that actually find help and get help and the resources to get them off of meth," Lt. Green explained. "It's a very addictive drug."
Wednesday, LCSO will have a roundtable discussion with law enforcement officials from across the Big Bend, lawmakers and medical experts to strategize on how to handle the growing meth problem.
