Two Alabama men were arrested for allegedly stopping by several pharmacies in Carroll County to purchase medications used in the manufacture of methamphetamine, and new laws regarding the sale of such medications are helping authorities to track down more.

Joshua Baker, 19, of Roanoke, Ala. and Tommy Keith Holloway, 25, of Jackson Gap, Ala. were arrested on Nov. 5 and charged with possession of pseudoephedrine with intent to manufacture meth.

Pseudoephedrine is a decongestant found in a number of common over-the-counter medications including Sudafed and Mucinex. House Bill 216, which regulates the sale of products containing pseudoephedrine, was adopted in April 2005.

According to gov.georgia.gov, the law limits the number of boxes of medication containing pseudoephedrine that each customer is allowed to buy, states that retailers much keep any drugs containing pseudoephedrine behind pharmacy counters and requires them to keep records of the customers who purchase those medications. Capt. Shane Taylor of the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office said the number of boxes a consumer may purchase depends on the amount of pseudoephedrine in the medication.

“Some of them contain lesser amounts, but other ones contain a lot more so you can only buy one box,” Taylor said.

Taylor said that over the past four to five weeks authorities have been hearing reports of groups visiting a number of pharmacies around Carroll County and buying up medications containing pseudoephedrine. Sheriff’s investigators have been working with local pharmacies to obtain the names of those who may have bought excessive amounts of the drugs.

“A lot of the ones we have been investigating are from Alabama,” Taylor said. “They’re coming from Alabama over into Georgia in car loads and going to pharmacies one right after another.”

Taylor said that on Nov. 5, investigators learned that a group of Alabama residents traveling in two separate cars had purchased drugs containing pseudoephedrine from two CVS pharmacies, one in Bowdon and one in Carrollton.

Assuming the suspects would also attempt to purchase medication at Wal-Mart and Kroger in Carrollton, sheriff’s deputies were stationed at both locations. Authorities caught Baker and Holloway at Wal-Mart, again trying to purchase medications, and arrested them. The other suspects traveling in the second car were not apprehended.

“They had been with [Baker and Holloway] at the other two stores ... and they just didn’t show up,” Taylor said.

According to Taylor, Baker and Holloway admitted during interviews at the Sheriff’s Office that they planned to use the medications to manufacture meth. Taylor said that four to five other suspects connected to Baker and Holloway have been identified but have yet to be arrested. However, he said that other groups are out in Carroll County doing the exact same thing with the intention of producing meth.

Greg Smith, store manager of Kroger in Carrollton, said his store has been keeping medications containing pseudoephedrine behind the counter and documenting the names of people purchasing the medicines since summer 2007. According to Smith, the requirements have deterred a number of people from purchasing excessive amounts of cold and allergy medicines.

“Now that they know they can record it and keep track of it, it’s stopped a lot of stuff,” Smith said.

Smith said that when pseudoephedrine products were displayed on the main floor in Kroger’s pharmacy area, medication was stolen from the store nearly every day.

According to Smith, some suspects knew which days the store stocked its cold and allergy medications and would steal the medicines the same day.

Since pseudoephedrine products were pulled from the floor, Smith said would-be shoplifters have been thwarted completely in their attempts to steal cold and allergy medicines.

Purchasing multiple boxes of medications containing pseudoephedrine could be one warning sign that a person may intend to manufacture meth, but there are a number of other items often bought in conjunction with the drugs. Rubbing alcohol, bleach, iodine, lithium batteries, matches, drain cleaner and starter fluid are also common items used to manufacture meth.

Meth is still a serious issue in Carroll County, but Taylor said authorities and pharmacies alike are working to lessen the problem.

“We would like to get the information out that we are continuing to watch and monitor all the pharmacies in Carroll County to look for patters in purchasing these controlled substances,” Taylor said.