Dunlap TN meth lab explosion turns up third suspect
December 1, 2008
Juanita Gray has been arrested as the third suspect in the meth lab explosion and fire that occurred near Dunlap, TN over the weekend. Gray has been charged with manufacturing meth and the initiation of a process to manufacture methamphetamine. She has been named as the person who rented the trailer where Read more
Drug enforcement teams dismantle meth lab bombs by using robots
October 15, 2008
When the St. Louis County Police purchased their RMI-9WT Bomb Removal Robot with Homeland Security funds in 2005, it cost them $103,000.00. But, if you ask the Franklin County police, they’ll tell you that it’s worth every penny.
After Franklin County police arrived at the scene of an active meth lab, they realized they needed to call for some assistance. St. Louis County Police agreed it was time to pull out all of the stops and deploy their RMI-9WT Bomb Removal Robot.
Once the RMI-9WT arrived, police realized they had a problem. The small size of the home prevented sending the robot in to find the bomb. It was time for plan B, a bomb technician was sent in to the home to remove the bomb and hand it off to the RMI-9WT robot that waited outside.
With bomb in hand, the RMI-9WT took the bomb to an open field, where it was detonated. Police described the explosion to a WWII grenade. Shrapnel, they reported, flew as far out as 75 yards away, but no one got injured, thanks to the assistance of the robot.
The RMI-9WT survived the blast, but it didn’t fare as well as the humans involved in the meth lab bust. It sustained nearly $25,000 in damages.
UC Merced Student Jason West gets charges dropped in plea deal
September 26, 2008
Jason West, 36, a former UMerced doctoral candidate, who was arrested on meth related charges, has agreed to a plea deal that will eliminate charges of grand theft and conspiracy to distribute meth. When the Merced Multi-Agency Narcotics Task Force, the Narcotics Enforcement Team, and the Fresno Methamphetamine Task Force arrested West at his home on the 100 block of Castle Drive in Atwater, they found chemicals and Read more
Merced County California has been busy busting meth labs
September 12, 2008
Sheriff Mark Pazin of Merced County, California is keeping busy these days, according to a report by the Merced Sun-Star. They have reported close to 100 meth lab incidents already this year, the latest of which was a bust this week of a super lab located at 17497 Letteau Ave. Police estimate that by the amount of meth waste they witnessed, the lab had been used to produce at least 100 pounds of methamphetamine. With meth labs producing 4 to 6 pounds of waste per pound of meth produced, there was between 400 and 600 pounds of toxic waste found at the site.
Last month, police arrested 35-year-old Jorge Alvarez, after he sold 4 pounds of meth to a drug enforcement agent. Alvarez has Read more
Police don’t need a search warrant if you’re cooking meth
September 8, 2008
If you’re cooking up a batch of meth, you should know that police don’t need your permission to enter the home or other property that you’re cooking your meth in. Because meth labs present such a great danger to others, police have the right to protect the public from your actions. In legal terms, the immediate danger Read more
66 guns and a meth lab found in bedroom of Missouri home
September 4, 2008
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Bradley J. Schlozman, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Conception Junction, Mo., woman was sentenced in federal court today for participating in a conspiracy with her husband to manufacture methamphetamine. This indictment is the result of work completed by the NITRO Task Force.
Carol J. Wood, 45, of Conception Junction, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Fernando J. Gaitan this morning to five years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Wood to forfeit to the government $9,850, which represents proceeds of the conspiracy, and a Read more
Kansas meth lab cook faces 30 year minimum sentence in federal prison
September 4, 2008
A Platte County man who bragged that he had shot at police “Rambo style” pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to his role in a large methamphetamine manufacturing conspiracy.
John F. Wood, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Platte County, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court today to his role in a large-scale conspiracy to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine. While attempting to flee from police officers, he detonated an explosion at his residence and engaged in a shoot-out and high-speed car chase with officers. Read more
Meth cook hides out in home of South Bend Indiana senior citizen
August 30, 2008
High on meth, Kane Edward Hively, 27, of Pierceton, broke in to the home of an elderly woman and told her that he feared for his life. When police arrived at the home of an elderly female Leesburg resident, they found Kane sitting in a rocking chair in her home. Read more
Meth cook steals electric from grain facility in rural MN
July 10, 2008
Higher than “normal” electric bills don’t send up the red flag warnings that they used to, in an economy flooded with utility cost increases. It is a fact that one meth cook in the Mapleton and Minnesota Lake region of Minnesota depended on when he hooked up his home to a neighbor’s grain storage facility. It worked, for awhile at least.
His free electric source came to a screeching halt though, when the facility’s owners called an electrician to help them take a look at a problem at their grain facility. When the electrician asked the owners where the Read more
Kentucky police back out of meth lab home in fear of massive explosion
May 30, 2008
When the South Central Kentucky Drug Task Force tried to serve a search warrant at 290 Gasper River Road in Auburn, what they saw would have made anyone freeze in their tracks. Inside the residence, they found a meth lab with 16 gas cylinders that were five feet high containing several gallons of what they suspect was Read more