Guam – It’s called ‘shake and bake’ but it has nothing to do with cooking dinner, instead this has to do with Guam’s ice epidemic which continues to evolve.
Not much has changed in the fight against drugs, as methamphetamine continues to be the drug of choice over the past three decades, according to the Bureau of Statistics and Plans.
But it appears that those in the meth dealing and smuggling world are picking up the ante as intelligence information reveals that a new mobile method of manufacturing crystal methamphetamine has surfaced on the island.
The draft report of the Guam’s FY 20199-2022 Strategy for Drug Control, Violent Crime and Criminal Justice Systems Improvement calls them “shake and bake labs.”
This method of cooking meth utilizes a plastic soda bottle. Also known as the one-pot method, it involves cold pills mixed with common but noxious household chemicals to produce small batches of meth, but one wrong move and the concoction can explode into a large fireball.
According to the report, two seizures of shake and bake labs have already been made by the drug task force. The report also said that from 2013 to 2017, authorities had investigated three methamphetamine laboratories.
The report said that “cooks continue their illegal enterprise, smurfing pseudoephedrine and still use the island’s hotels and motels for their illicit operation.”
According to the report, with the help of GPD, the local DEA office had infiltrated a significant organization that assembled a clandestine laboratory in a bedroom of a residence.
While no details of the undercover operation had been released, the report said, “the investigations are anticipated to reveal conspirators that are associated with the organization and other targets that emulate the organization.”
Meanwhile, the report still points to the main source of production as the United States and the route of choice as the postal system.
According to the report, the Philippines is another production and transshipment area. The report also identified Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, and Korea as sources of meth.
In addition to importing ice directly from the Philippines, the report said it is also smuggled into Guam through the CNMI.
The report said, “current trends corroborate intelligence information. Drug smuggling organization are utilizing legitimate freight importers, express consignments and mailed articles to smuggle ice shipments into Guam.”
Based on interdiction efforts, authorities have noticed a change in the methods criminal organizations use to import ice.
The new process involves reducing the quantity of shipments but with higher frequencies, noting that previous imports of ice ranged from 1 to 2-kilogram quantities.
In 2017, the task force seized 20,500 grams of meth with a street value of $9.9 million.
