GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — On Wednesday, officials with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) called a press conference on the second floor of the non-descript federal building in downtown Grand Rapids.
Their intent was to remind us here in West Michigan that methamphetamine remains a serious problem in the world of illicit drug use.
In recent years, the synthetic opioid fentanyl has captured a bulk of headlines, often overshadowing the realities of meth.
In the early 2000s, the federal government put a number of security mechanisms in place to curb the production of methamphetamine in so-called "one-pot labs."
A "one-pot lab" is likely what most people picture when they think of someone making meth: envision a backwoods clearing, littered with plastic bottles, batteries and cleaning components.
That approach has diminished significantly since pseudoephedrine was moved behind the pharmacy counter.
In 2004, there were about 23,700 meth labs seized in the United States.
In 2019, only about 890 labs were seized in the entire country.
“You can no longer go to your local drugstore and buy $200 worth of those medications to produce methamphetamine,” Brian McNeil, public information officer for the administration's Detroit field office, explained Wednesday.
"The methamphetamine that we're seeing now is coming from drug organizations, drug trafficking organizations, cartels in Mexico.”
McNeil says that cartel members are trying to take advantage of the diminished access to the precursor materials for meth in the United States.
"The vast majority of methamphetamine that hits the U.S. market is being manufactured in industrial labs in Mexico, which are capable of producing multiton quantities of meth on a weekly basis," McNeil said.
"These precursor chemicals are supplied from diverted precursor chemicals from China and other countries in Asia."
In addition to the precursor chemicals now being much harder to get in the United States, the supply coming from Mexico is extremely cheap and pure.
“When you were using ephedrine and other chemicals to make methamphetamine from a massive drugstore purchase in the early 2000s, you weren't making this pure form of methamphetamine,” McNeil said Wednesday.
“We're finding that the price is actually being slashed by some cartels, where street dealers are almost getting it for free to establish footholds in new markets.”
While fentanyl poses a serious threat to users and remains a top concern for the DEA, they are actually seizing more meth in recent years.
In 2023, the agency seized about 140,000 pounds of meth and 27,000 pounds of fentanyl.
“Traditionally, you would see the seizures on the border, but now they're in the Midwest; we're seeing these large-scale seizures, even here,” McNeil explained.
“These drugs are designed to do one thing, and that is to make money.”
Meth Lab Seizures in the United States
(Source: 2020 National Drug Threat Assessment)
2004: approximately 23,700 labs
2019: 890 labs
Total Meth Seized by the D.E.A. in Michigan
2022: 328 kilograms
2023: 286 kilograms
Total Meth Seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection
(Source: USCBP)
2021: 192,000 pounds
2022: 175,000 pounds
2023: 140,000 pounds
Total Fentanyl Seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection
(Source: USCBP)
2021: 11,200 pounds
2022: 14,700 pounds
2023: 27,000 pounds
