tonight on "nightline" -- bad medicine. "nightline" investigates. a disturbing new trend. >> oh, bingo. >> people paid by dealers to buy the everyday cold medication needed to make meth. a stunning 24 hours inside the police unit cracking down on these drugstore cowboys. pickup artists. would you give this guy your number? >> stop. i want to hang out with you again. >> okay, sure. >> or this one? >> you want to ride my broomstick? >> i'm all right. >> these self-made casanovas say they can teach even the most romantically challenged the secrets of seduction. we put them to the test. basis instinct. this adorable fuzz ball is the last line of defense against extinction. but to survive, he must first

learn a life or death lesson. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," november 30th, 2011. good evening, i'm terry moran. and we're going to begin tonight in the heartland, where cops are working around the clock to keep an everyday cold medicine out of the hands of drug dealers. the key ingredient to making meth can be found in any drugstore, and dealers are paying big bucks to get their hands on what has now become a closely regulated supply of it. chris bury catches up with the cops trying to catch those dealers for our series "nightline investigates." >> reporter: if you're a fan of amc's hit series "breaking bad," then you know the mantra of

megadrug dealer walter white -- making methamphetamine is just basic chemistry. turns out fiction follows fact. meth abuse is exploding across rural america. in kentucky, where labs have nearly tripled since 2008, it's become an all-consuming battle for deputy dan smoot. >> there's six undercovers at each site. >> reporter: smoot leads the task force here called "operation unite." >> everybody run to the car and suit up and we'll meet you at walgreen's and cvs. >> reporter: at 9:00 a.m., his team of mostly undercover officers hit the road targeting locations that might surprise you. local drugstores like walgreens, cvs and walmart. >> following. >> reporter: pseudoephedrine is found in over-the-counter cold medicines like sudafed. while these pills may provide relief to cold sufferers, to criminal making meth they are pure gold. meth makers legally buy as much of their raw product as they can. >> the one single ingredient

they must have to produce methamphetamine is pseudoephedrine. >> reporter: a federal law sets a hard limit on pseudoephedrine. no more than nine grams, or about seven packs her customer each month. but to get around that limit, electronically tracked by kentucky drugstores, meth users team up to each buy the maximum, a practice known as smurfing. named after those little blue cartoon characters. >> i want every smurf to gather as many as you can. >> reporter: by noon, inside this nearby walgreens, an undercover cop tracks three women who arrive together in this red chevy. >> the one in the pink right there, she had a bag in her hand. >> reporter: what is your officer reporting? >> that all three of the occupants of the monte carlo purchased pseudoephedrine. they believe one of them shopli shoplifted. >> reporter: it's their unlucky day. suspicious, the task force follows them as their monte carlo pulls out of the parking

lot. >> we're just going to stay with them and see if they go anywhere else. >> reporter: moments later, they come to a stop. >> looks like they're high right now. >> one tells the police she just needed cold medicine. >> she's got medicine. she's got a cold. >> reporter: the other denies she got the other one to buy it for her. shelling out $80 for a seven-pack of cold medicine. >> why did you give her money? >> i didn't give her money. >> that's what she said. >> well, she's lying. >> reporter: a search of the car turns up what police say is incriminating evidence. >> so far, we found a meth pipe, some mamarijuana, and we found some peels from -- >> i didn't give them the money. >> reporter: one of the women is arrested on drug charges. another is arrested for possession of meth and driving under the influence. but her case was eventually dismissed. another woman at the residence is taken in for outstanding warrants. the fourth is not charged. >> what have we found here in

>> well, a classic case of smurfing, as it turns out. the one lady recruited two of the younger girls to go around to the pharmacies and purchase pseudo. >> reporter: how typical is this kind of thing here in kentucky? >> unfortunately, it's an everyday occurrence. we're number three in the united states of america for production. >> reporter: by mid-afternoon, the task force finds the walgreen's pharmacy is so crowded with people buying sudafed -- >> they're like seven to eight deep right now. >> -- that the store runs out. >> they actually sold out of sudafed. >> reporter: how many of those people were legit, allergies, colds, and how many do you think wanted to make meth? >> probably 70% of the pseudoephedrine purchased was diverted. >> reporter: 70% went for meth? >> yes. to manufacture meth. >> we have two males that are lined up. >> reporter: after these two men each buy packages, the task force follows them. >> they got into a red impala. >> take that one, the red one. >> they'll go from one pharmacy to the other to the other until they get their nine gram limit.

>> this red car up here at walmart, they're up to something. >> reporter: moments later, they pull over the car after it's run two red lights. >> we're going through the lights. we're going through the lights. >> what is this? >> just water. >> just water? you sure? >> why does it say no on top of it? >> i don't know. this is water. >> reporter: inside the trunk, everything needed to make meth. >> oh, bingo. got a lab here. >> this is probably a strong acid here. there's your lithium batteries, coffee filters. >> reporter: the raw chemicals in a meth lab are extremely volatile, so a team is called in to neutralize the ingredients, costing police $2,000 for every routine bust. >> we'll have to test it to find out for sure. >> watch your head. >> reporter: the two men arrested on multiple drug charges. both pleaded not guilty. >> manufacturing methamphetamine and possession of marijuana. >> reporter: for all their arrests, the task force insists it cannot stamp out meth until

the active ingredient, pseudoephedrine, becomes much more difficult to get. >> there's 15 boxes of medication behind the counters at these pharmacies. we need them to be a controlled substance. >> reporter: prescription? >> prescription. >> reporter: the only two states, oregon and mississippi, that now require prescriptions report a dramatic decline in meth labs. in oregon, busts are down 96% since 2006. in mississippi, they are down 66% since the law took hold last year. >> you should have taken sudafed. >> sudafed opens nasal passages -- >> reporter: but over-the-counter remedies for cold and allergy relief make up a $4 billion business. the pharmaceutical industry is fighting stricter regulation. its trade group told us efforts to impose a prescription mandate will not stop meth abuse and will punish the more than 18 million american families who rely upon these medicines. the pharmaceutical companies and even some allergy sufferers say, we don't want to put our customers through the inconvenience of a prescription

for a simple cold medicine, allergy. >> well, look at the inconvenience in our daily lives, you know? if you take a plane anywhere, now you have to take your shoes off, your belt off. but you're arriving safely. >> reporter: for the kentucky unite task force the day's work drags into night. >> today i actually found a lab that's bubbling. >> reporter: over the same hills that moonshiners once ran, they chase a tip of yet another meth lab. just after 7:00 p.m., armed with a search warrant -- >> there's probably and reasonable cause for the issue of a search warrant. >> reporter: they find an active lab. >> it will most likely start reacting again. so we'll have to suit up. >> reporter: and the finished product. >> there's a package of suspected methamphetamine. >> reporter: hours earlier authorities removed a 3-year-old from this squalid home littered with needles and powder, conditions all too typical of meth addicts. a field test -- >> this should turn this electric blue. >> reporter: -- confirms police

suspicions. >> positive for the presence of methamphetami methamphetamine. >> reporter: and after a 14-hour day another lab is busted. >> it's every day. >> reporter: you could bust people basically all day and all night long? >> as long as the pharmacy doors are open, we can make rests. >> reporter: an uphill fight on the new front in the nation's meth war. i'm chris bury for "nightline" in london, kentucky. >> the battle against meth in the american heartland there. thanks to chris bury for nap that. up next, we'll switch gears. three men who say they know the answer to what women want. >> what's your number? car insurance, big" savi it's a bit like asking if they want a big hat... ...'scuse me... ...or a big steak... ...or big hair... i think we have our answer.

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>> announcer: "nightline" continues from new york city with terry moran. >> and welcome back. well, when it comes to the ancient art of romance, some men use flowers. some use chocolates.

others put their faith in astrology. but three young men say they've elevated the art of seduction into a science. they call their technique the simple pickup. and they say that anyone can learn their signature moves. abc's sharyn alfonsi put them to the test in new york city. >> reporter: that's kong. >> hi. >> reporter: he's wearing a tooth fairy costume. >> stop. let me see this. >> reporter: and, yes, he's hitting on a girl he just met. >> i'm sorry. i just checked you out. i want to hang out with you again. >> okay, sure. >> reporter: and yes, for some reason, she's giving him her phone number. >> i'll text you this weekend. >> reporter: not to be outdone, his two friends, dressed as super mario -- >> i'm promoting mario today, yes. you can be my peach. >> reporter: and the statue of liberty. >> we should exchange numbers. >> reporter: also get numbers from random girls. giving him a phone number. who are these costume kas is a novas? jesse, kong and jason, the stars of "simple pickup," an internet

sensation, devoted to the fine art of picking up girls. >> what is your number? >> it does not matter what your name is. >> reporter: you actually call? >> we don't call any of the numbers because we actually do this offcamera so much that we already have enough numbers. >> reporter: that sounds like a high class problem. >> really good problem to have. >> what are you guys doing? >> getting ready to pick up girls. >> reporter: they don't think twice about breaking up bad magic tricks. >> don't, i'm going to make a baby appear. >> out of -- >> in your belly. >> in my belly. >> reporter: or acting like harry potter. >> i'm putting spills on you guys. to fall in love with me. >> reporter: is there anything you want say to get a phone number? >> um -- no. >> reporter: i saw you guys in wheelchairs. >> yes. >> people think, some people think that we were in wheelchairs to get phone numbers -- >> okay. 559 -- >> we were showing that you can

still meet new people. >> the only way this is going to work if you are always on top. >> we can make it work out. >> reporter: i'm sure people look at and go, oh, my gosh, they're really making fun of women. >> we try to respect their privacy as much as possible because, we obviously blur their faces. >> reporter: they still walk away thinking, that guy thought i was really cute and you just thought that they were -- >> that kind of makes their day actually. >> reporter: until they see themselves on the internet. their hunting ground is normally college campuses in california. but we wanted them to try out their game on anno or the usely tough crowd. the women of new york city. first up, jesse. >> i had to say hi to you. do you mind if i sit with you? i'm really bored right now. >> reporter: three numbers in 40 minutes. did you think he was trying to pick you up or -- >> i thought he was trying to pick me up. >> reporter: you think he was cute? >> yeah. >> reporter: it didn't bother you that he was wearing a super mario costume? >> you don't ask questions in this city. you just don't. >> reporter: second up, kong.

>> i can talk to you guys about jesus christ. i'm just kidding. i thought you guys were cute. i'm not about to marry you. geez. you just seem like a cool person. wait. i want to keep in contact, though. do you text? >> reporter: two numbers in 20 minutes. >> give me a hug. you're too cool. >> reporter: but then as jason common straits -- >> alyssa, jayson, nice to meet you. bye. >> reporter: it's not always as easy as it looks in their videos. >> class -- you don't have a name? love you. but this, jason says, is an important lesson. be prepared to fail. >> we should exchange numbers. >> that's not happening. >> reporter: it's going to happen, a lot. >> the first 45 minutes were just nonstop blowouts. no, it's like, that happens. i know this. get over it and move on. keep trying. >> reporter: we are about to give up on him when he takes a seat next to a beautiful blond reading on a bench. >> i was like, this girl's cute, going to sit next to her and talk to her. >> you work fast. >> reporter: a couple more

compliments and smoldering but strange looks later, she's given up her number. >> reporte you were impressed with him? >> i think girls respond to confidence more than looks. >> reporter: you actually got her phone number and what are you going to do with it? >> going to leave and then call her. the second i'm done with this interview. >> reporter: but as the guys are wrapping up, suddenly, they're the ones being approached. >> you guys are [ bleep ] awesome, man. changing my life. >> reporter: but fans of "simple pickup's" videos. >> wow. >> reporter: you talk to a girl because of them? >> yeah. we came here today -- i was inspired by them. >> reporter: and this, the guys say, is what "simple pickup" is all about. teaching average guys they, too, can pick up hot girls. do you mean to be inspirational or funny? >> i don't know about you two, but i always dreamt of helping people, so, i guess -- >> reporter: you should go work at, like, an orphanage, right? not pick up girls at the park. >> but this is also helping

people in a way that i could also have fun. we're less than average looking guys. all you need to do is just be confident and comfortable in yourself. >> reporter: even if you're making everyone else around you a little uncomfortable. >> you realize you just killed our feature children? >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm sharyn alfonsi in new york. >> thanks to sharyn for that. when we return, an adorable baby gorilla, and the surprising thing that could cost him his life. oh, hello. i'd like to tell you about netflix. it's an amazing service that lets you watch unlimited movies and tv episodes instantly. you watch netflix on your pc or on your tv through a game console or other devices, connected to the internet. wow, that's fast. best of all, netflix is only... [ buzzing ] eight bucks a month. but don't listen to a beaver... take it from the fish. it's true. start your free trial today! ♪

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remarkable story of humans helping a species on the brink of extension. it's a happy story, but the zoo keepers helping to raise a baby lowland gorilla can never smile at their young charge. because if the ape picks up the habit and learns to bare his teeth, well, it might just cost him his life. from london, abc's nick watt brings us this report. >> reporter: okanda is six months old. a baby lowland gorilla. and zoe is his foster mom. she's one of the zoo keepers who care for 0 khanna 24 hours a day. they feed him, love him like a child and grumble. they grumble like a mommy gorilla to keep him calm. but the hardest part, the keepers are not allowed to smile at cute little okanda. because, if he learns to smile, if e he picks up that habit, it could kill him.

here's why. that's okanda's uncle and some day soon, okanda will be reintroduced to his gorilla family. and when gorillas smile, bare their teeth, it means they're mad at hell. >> what you don't want is the little guy to go back into the gorilla group and sort of do them, which is a fear face -- >> reporter: he could get killed. >> they'll say, what on earth are you doing? who are you? you are wrong, there's something wrong with you. and kill him. >> reporter: okanda might be killed by his uncle or father. that really happens. another baby gorilla called tiny was killed by his adoptive father just a few months ago at london's zoo. keepers were criticized for putting them together in the same cage. adult male gorillas are temperamental and prone to violence. and a smile from okanda could set them off. he was born here at the twycross zoo in england.

there's his mom and dad. he was taken away from his parents a month ago because he was starving to death. there's something wrong with his mom's milk. so, this gruelling round the clock human parenting might go on for months until okanda has moved on to solid food. why is it so important to save him? >> because there are only 100,000 western lowland gorillas, these guys, on the planet. and that's it. >> reporter: and so they want okanda to grow up, breed, have a family of his own and keep this critically endangered species alive. and that's why they can never, ever smile at this beautiful little creature. i'm nick watt for "nightline" at the twycross see in england. >> good luck to a magnificent beast there. thanks for watching abc news. we hope you check in for "good morning america" tomorrow, for an exclusive interview with gary giordano. we'll also have much more of that exclusive on