Meth lab behavior
November 2, 2008
Homes where meth is being sold exhibit certain behaviors such as:
Visitors
Periods where there are alot of visitors followed by days where there are few visitors. Meth users can be awake for several days and nights. During those “awake” times, meth buyers will frequently visit the home to buy methamphetamine from them. Some of those visitors may bring items to the meth dealer’s home instead of cash. Electronics and tools are popular cash replacements. The meth dealer may signals buyers that he/she has meth for sale by turning on a porch light or doing something else outside of the home to give them a “signal” that they have meth. During the days and nights when the meth dealer is sleeping, traffic to the home will be virtually non-existent.
Visitors may park far away from the house, even though there is parking available in front of the home. They don’t want neighbors or other people that they know to see their car parked in front of a drug dealer’s home.
Vehicles of meth buyers may be driving stolen cars, although that is not always the case. Stolen cars often have their door locks punched out of them. Another sign of a stolen vehicle can be clean license plates that are attached to dirty vehicles.
Behavior of meth users
When someone is high on meth, they will appear very talkative and energetic. Think of a child who’s had way too much sugar. They are also extremely busy during these times and may be involved in several kinds of projects, but they seldom finish any of them. Some meth users may pull apart vehicles and other machinery with the intention of fixing them, but they never complete the repairs. Some meth lab homes have been found with graphiti painted on walls and ceilings.
Meth dealers and heavy meth users don’t have jobs, but they have cash. There aren’t many jobs where you can not show up for 3 or 4 days at a time, so you can sleep. They get cash from selling meth or from stolen property which they can sell for cash.
If the meth user / dealer has children or pets, they are typically neglected. Meth addicts aren’t hungry due to the effects of the drug, so it’s easy for them to forget that their children or family pet(s) haven’t eaten. During the times that the meth using parents crash by sleeping for days at a time, children and animals are often left to fend for themselves. The children and pets may look undernourished and dirty to the neglect of those their adult caretakers. However, children may not be allowed to go outside without a parent or other adult present.
Drug dealers may appear unfriendly to neighbors or may be described as very “private people”.
Appearance of a drug dealing home
There may be security devices, such as security cameras attached to the house, shed, barn, garage, etc. Anyone making and selling meth wants to know who is getting “too close” to finding out about their illegal activity.
More Signs of a Meth Lab by the Tennessee Meth Task Force:
1. Frequent visitors at all times of the day or night
2. Activity at the house is usually at odd hours or late at night
3. Occupants appear unemployed, yet seem to have plenty of money and pay bills with cash
4. Occupants are unfriendly, appear secretive about activities
5. Occupants watch cars suspiciously when they pass by
6. Occupants display a paranoid or odd behavior
7. Extensive security at the home or signs that indicate “Private Property” or “Beware of Dog”, fences, large shrubs, bushes and trees
8. Windows blackened or curtains always drawn
9. Occupants go outside the house to smoke cigarettes
10. Chemical odors coming from the house, garbage or detached buildings
11. Garbage contains numerous bottles, containers
12. Coffee filters, bed sheets or other material stained from filtering red phosphorus or other chemicals
13. Occupant sets his garbage for pick up in another neighbor’s collection area
14. Evidence of chemical or waste dumping (i.e. burn pits, or “dead spots” in the yard)