By: Diana Johnsen
djohnsen@kcautv.com
It's called "NPLEx" or "National Precursor Log Exchange".
It's the computer system that's behind catching a series a people making the illegal drug, meth.
"It's like a piece of a puzzle. As you put in one piece it opens up another door so that you can put in another piece of the puzzle," said Storm Lake Chief of Police, Todd Erskine.
In early February, Storm Lake Police were able to make eight arrests by using the system.
A system that has its start at the pharmacy.
One, of the common ingredients used in meth is the drug pseudoephedrine, mostly found in the nasal decongestant "Sudafed".
Every time someone comes in to buy it, it gets recorded into the NPLEx system.
"You scan the license, you scan the product, you have them sign. The signature of that person, the date they got it and the transaction ID is also saved," said Trisha Hoffmann, pharmacist at Hy-Vee Pharmacy in Storm Lake.
The system can be logged into by police via the web which makes it faster to look up and search possible suspects any time.
"It has made our job a lot easier, and I could do this from my smartphone. I could do it from a computer anytime I'd want to do it," said Erskine.
Not every state uses the NPLEx system, but all pharmacies are required by law to log when and how much Sudafed someone buys.
