Police raids and restrictions on precursor chemicals and cold medicines have hindered meth production in some U.S. states; 73,000 meth labs and dumps have been identified and/or shut down since 2000.

But meth consumption has not been affected, and manufacturers have simply moved their operations south of the border, where the drug can be made cheaply and easily smuggled into the U.S. "Methamphetamines production has moved south," said Ray D'Alessio of the DEA's Houston Regional Office. "Mexican drug traffickers already have established transportation routes and markets for cocaine and marijuana."

An estimated 80 percent of the meth used in the U.S. is now made in Mexico, the DEA says. Border agents seized 3,820 pounds of meth at U.S./Mexico crossings in 2003, up from 14 pounds in 1992.

"Super labs" in Mexico are able to purchase huge quantities of cold pills containing pseudoephedrine from China and other overseas suppliers and use the tablets to make meth. DEA reports show that as much as 80 percent of all methamphetamines used in the United States is made in Mexico.

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