In the previous five chapters, I de

In the previous five chapters, I described a process by which underground chemists make smaller amounts of methamphetamine, up to about one-half pound of pure methamphetamine. The process takes about three days with two people working in shifts around the clock. Thus, the maximum production level is stuck at one pound per week.
There is a way to break through this production limit, which is to produce phenylacetone and tum it into methamphetamine by different methods. These methods produce more in less time, and they are cheaper. Two of them, the tube furnace and the hydrogenation bomb, are major engineering projects. But they are no problem for those with a Mr. Handyman streak. If constructing a factory for meth production wasn't what you had in mind, you will also find in the next few chapters many methods which use standard labware and which also can potentially produce large amounts of meth fairly quickly.
However, underground chemists will not move up to industrial-scale production until they are sure that they are going to be able to sell it without having to deal with strangers - unless, of course, they want to get busted.
One major difference in the logistics of a large-scale operation versus a smaller one is that a different source of chemicals is required. An outlet that specializes in pints and quarts of chemicals is not going to be much help when multi-gallons are needed. Here a factor comes into play which cannot be taken advantage of at lower levels of production. Most chemical suppliers will not deal with individuals, only with corporations and companies.
Now the underground chemist can tum this situation to his advantage by means of subterfuge. First he develops a false identity. He gets some of the books on false ID and - Abracadabra! - He's Joe Schmoe. He uses this identity to form several companies. Ifhe wants to be official, he consults the book. How to Form Your Own Corporation/or under 50 Dollars. available in most libraries. Otherwise, he just
has some invoice-order forms printed up for his company. He may also open a checking account for his company to pay for chemicals. He uses checks with high numbers on them so that they don't think that he just appeared out of thin air. As an alternative, he may pay with certified checks from the bank.
The next step is to rent some space as his company headquarters and chemical depot. Indeed, he'll probably rent a couple such depots to house his various companies.
Now he starts contacting chemical dealers, ordering enough of one or two chemicals to last for a couple of years. Then he contacts another dealer and orders a similar quantity of one or two other chemicals under a different company name. He continues this process until he has everything he needs. He offers to pick them up so that they do not see the dump he's rented as his headquarters. As a precaution, he equips these dumps with a phone and answering machine so that they can call him back. If he doesn't live in a large city, he does business out of town. That way they won't be surprised that they never heard of him. But he does not do business too far away from home base, so they won't wonder why he came so far.
There is a better strategy to follow in getting the equipment and chemicals needed for clandestine meth production. The best method to use is to first order the equipment and a couple of the most suspicion­arousing chemicals. Then the underground operator lays low for a while. The narco swine have a habit of going off half-cocked on their search warrants. If the initial purchases caught their eyes, they will likely swoop right in, planning on finding an operating lab, or at least enough to make a conspiracy charge stick. If they move now, the meth meister will not be prosecutable, so long as he does not admit guilt. An alternative narco swine strategy would be for them to initiate intense surveillance upon Joe Schmoe.