Drug raid uncovers more potent 'ice' methamphetamine
Among the 9 pounds of methamphetamine seized is 1 pound of "ice,' a potent, upscale version of the drug.
By SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER
Published August 28, 2003
BRANDON - Three Polk County men face federal charges of armed drug trafficking after an undercover operation that led to the seizure of $140,000 in cash and 9 pounds of methamphetamine valued at more than $60,000.
Brothers Mario Lopez Contreras, 20; Alejandro Lopez Contreras, 22; and their uncle Quirino Lopez, 52, all of Haines City, are being held without bail in the Hillsborough County Jail following their arrests Tuesday just east of Hillsborough County.
While methamphetamine seizures are no longer unusual in rural corners of counties including Polk, Pasco and Hillsborough, law enforcement officials say Tuesday's undercover sting is significant because among the methamphetamine was 1 pound of "ice."
A potent form of methamphetamine, ice leaves users high for eight to 10 hours rather than the typical three or four, according to drug agents. Methamphetamine users can be paranoid, violent and sleep-deprived. Habitual ice users often exhibit those symptoms to the extreme.
In recent months, undercover drug agents and law enforcement officers say they have seen ice emerge as the drug of choice in some South Tampa nightclubs, marking methamphetamine's first large-scale presence within the Tampa city limits.
Typically, methamphetamine use is concentrated in poor rural areas, which explains the nickname "poor man's cocaine."
"Ice attracts a much more upscale clientele," said Tom Feeney, who supervises the Drug Enforcement Agency's methamphetamine task force in Tampa. "And you're going to see more and more of it, because the quality of standard meth that we're seizing is lousy: It's diluted. These people buy ice because they're seeking a more potent drug, and they can afford it."
Ice, which is 90 to 97 percent pure, sells on the street for as much as $20,000 a pound, or about $1,500 an ounce. Standard methamphetamine is worth $6,000 to $8,000 a pound, depending on the quality and where it's sold, authorities say.
"This is something we have not dealt with before, and it is not just dangerous to the user but to the whole community," said David Gee, chief deputy of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. "This is a new wave."
Law enforcement officials involved in Tuesday's bust said the meth came from California, a top production center along with Mexico, Texas and, in recent years, Florida.
The three men sold methamphetamine to an undercover agent in Hillsborough and were later arrested with a pound of methamphetamine during a traffic stop along Interstate 4 about 2 miles into Polk County, Feeney said.
A search of their home at 4601 Alma Ave. found an additional 8 pounds of methamphetamine, two 9mm handguns and $140,000 in cash, officials said. Inside the home was a setup for turning meth into ice, Gee said.
