The Meth Buster

This mom was determined to take back her neighborhood from drug dealers.

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Nationwide Epidemic

Pink hat, pink suede boots, pink backpack -- Susan York dons her trademark outfit whenever she goes into battle. She may come across as a chatty, upbeat mom, but York is engaged in a deadly war. She is determined to wipe out the meth houses springing up in unsuspecting communities across the country. One of them nearly destroyed her own.

The first sign of trouble was the escalating traffic. Cars with stereos blasting were suddenly tearing through the tranquil cul-de-sac where Susan and Al York had settled four years earlier. The rural street in Mukilteo, Washington, 25 miles north of Seattle, was surrounded by woods and wetland bird sanctuaries. They thought it was the perfect place to raise their young daughter, Brooklynn.

Then, almost overnight it seemed, life turned upside down. The couple in the beige split-level across the street divorced, and the wife, LaShawn, began taking in renters to help with the mortgage. But plenty more was going on. Cars peeled in and out of the driveway following visits lasting less than five minutes. Unsavory-looking figures were spotted coming through the woods.

One summer night, the Yorks were jolted awake by the sound of breaking glass. A wild party in LaShawn's house was spilling out into the street, where revelers had ignited a roaring bonfire. Police broke it up, but the nightmare was really just beginning.

"We had no idea what was going on," says York, who had a demanding job as marketing director for a local hotel chain. "Fights were breaking out at night, and you could hear screams. We barely slept."

When a speeding car nearly killed her Welsh corgi during an evening walk, York called the police in a rage. "It's not safe for children to be outside alone, much less ride their bikes," she nearly shouted.

An officer advised her to start taking down license plate numbers, along with makes and colors of cars, and report them daily to the precinct. Two weeks later, a sheriff's deputy confirmed what neighbors already suspected: LaShawn's split-level had been marked by law enforcement as a meth house.

"Well, why don't you shut it down?" demanded York. It was the beginning of a painful education.

"We live in a free country," explained Sheriff Rick Bart. "It's difficult to get the burden of proof we need for a search warrant. We can't be there all the time to get the information we need."

"Well," said York, "we'll get it for you." At the time, she'd never heard of methamphetamine, the cheap, dangerously addictive stimulant that has spawned a nationwide public health epidemic. Prolonged exposure triggers paranoia, neurological damage, and such overpowering dependence that users can think of nothing beyond the pursuit of more meth. Crime increases and fires break out from clumsy handling of chemicals as addicts cook up batches of the drug in home labs, threatening whole neighborhoods.

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