The law enforcement aspect of locating and dismantling clandestine meth labs is just one aspect of combating the problems associated with this dangerous drug. Any location where a lab is found must be decontaminated by a contractor licensed by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management before it can be deemed fit for human habitation again. IDEM Safety Director Scott Froush says the state has strict guidelines for properties to be decontaminated.
Law enforcement officers conducting a welfare check at a local motel arrested three people on a cache of drug charges. Deputies from the Starke County Sheriff’s Office and officials from Starke County Community Correction went to the Stay 4 Less Motel on U.S. 30 in Hamlet yesterday to check on 57-year-old Michael Campbell of Knox. When they arrived, they reportedly saw occupants of room 4 run into a bathroom and hide. The officers found Brian Back, 28, and Monica Hunt, 26, both of Plymouth, hiding in the bathroom and reportedly saw several items used to make meth in plain view. They contacted Starke Circuit Judge Kim Hall, who issued a search warrant for the room. Members of the Indiana State Police Clandestine Lab Team assisted with the search, which reportedly turned up precursors, paraphernalia and meth. Back, Hunt and Campbell are jailed on charges of possession of meth, precursors and paraphernalia, manufacturing meth and maintaining a common nuisance. Formal charges are pending.
A Hamlet man was arrested without incident at his Pearl Street home Sunday night after police there executed a search warrant and found a meth lab. The Hamlet Police Department obtained a warrant for Corbyn Gayheart’s home after an eight-month-long investigation. He’s facing charges of over-purchase of pseudoephedrine, manufacturing and possession of methamphetamine, possession of meth within 1,000 feet of a park and maintaining a common nuisance. The Indiana State Police Meth Lab Team was called in to assist with the cleanup.
Methamphetamine makers who shop at a local pharmacy are out of luck. Drug manufacturers have come up with a new cold medication formula. Nexafed contains psuedoephedrine, which is the active ingredient in meth, but can’t be easily used to make the illicit drug. Walgreen’s pharmacist Joe Lark says his store has a new policy.
A Plymouth man with a lengthy criminal history has pleaded guilty to a federal felony charge. Dale Hite, 27, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine. His sentencing is scheduled for Thursday, July 25 in U.S. District Court in South Bend. Continue reading
A month-long investigation by the Knox Police Department culminated in the arrest of two residents on meth charges last night. Alfred Higdon, 40, and Shari Melton, 39, were arrested at a home in the 300 block of Delaware Street. Officers reportedly found chemicals used in the manufacture of meth as well as methamphetamine and marijuana at the residence. Higdon and Melton both face charges of possession of methamphetamine, possession of precursors and possession of marijuana. Formal charges are pending.
Four Fulton County residents are jailed on multiple felony charges after police reportedly found active meth labs, drugs and paraphernalia in a home with four minor children located next to an elementary school. Officers from the Indiana State Police Peru Post Meth Enforcement Team, Fulton County Sheriffs Department and Rochester Police Department raided a home at 311 Fulton Avenue in Rochester. Continue reading
Hoosier allergy sufferers could soon face tougher limits on how much over-the-counter cold medication they can purchase. A bill to set an annual cap on pseudoephedrine purchases passed the House by a vote of 91-1. The goal of the legislation is to curb the manufacture of methamphetamine by crimping the supply of one of the drug’s main ingredients. Plymouth Mayor and former Indiana State Police Trooper Mark Senter testified in support of the limits during a House hearing on the bill. Cold medications containing pseudoephedrine are already sold behind the counter in pharmacies in limited quantities, and purchasers must show a photo identification to buy them. The 61 gram per person limit is about an eight-month supply of the current law’s monthly limit. The bill now goes back to the Senate for consideration of a few minor changes before it can be sent to Governor Mike Pence for consideration.
A Starke County man is jailed on meth charges after an investigation yesterday by deputies from the Starke County Sheriff’s Office. They found Henry Wood and his dog sitting in the passenger seat of a tan vehicle parked at 3131 South State Road 39 in North Judson. Wood consented to a search of the vehicle, and deputies reportedly found an inactive meth lab and other articles used in the manufacture of meth. Wood faces charges of dealing in methamphetamine. The Indiana State Police Clandestine Lab Team was called in to assist with the cleanup.
The mayor of Warsaw told our reporting partners at WNDU that the development of the new cold medicine is an alternative to Sudafed. According to Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer, Nexafed, which is available at local drug stores, has “Impede” technology which is a combination of inactive ingredients that impedes the process of manufacturing methamphetamine. When methamphetamine cooks use this drug during the process of making methamphetamine, it forms a thick gel which blocks the extraction of pseudoephedrine so it can’t be converted to meth.
While this drug doesn’t provide an immediate solution to the meth problem, it does offer hope. It could, in theory, reduce domestic production of methamphetamine.
A Plymouth Police Officer who hoped to serve one felony warrant at a Garro Street residence Wednesday night ended up taking seven people to jail and busting a meth lab.
Travis W. Gibson, 23, of Plymouth, was the subject of the warrant, which charges him with burglary, residential entry and dealing, delivering and manufacturing methamphetamine. A search of the residence turned up an illegal drug lab in the trunk of Gibson’s car, according to the Plymouth Police. Gibson now faces additional charges. Continue reading
Marshall County ranked ninth in the state for most labs seized with 42.
An area mayor is set to speak to state lawmakers about the effects of methamphetamine manufacture and use on his community. Plymouth Mayor Mark Senter will speak in favor of annual limits on ephedrine and pseudoephedrine sales. They are the main ingredient in many cold and allergy medications as well as in the production of methamphetamine. A bill pending in the House would set an annual limit on how much pseudoephedrine an individual can purchase. The current individual purchase limit is 7.2 grams per month, or 86.4 grams per year. The proposal before the House Courts and Criminal Code Committee would cap annual purchases at 61 grams per year for a consumer. It has already passed the Senate. Senter is scheduled to testify before the committee tomorrow in Indianapolis. He’s seen firsthand the effects of methamphetamine. Senter is a retired state trooper who spent five of his 28 years on the force as a member of the ISP Clandestine Lab Team.
Four people are jailed in Marshall County after police there reportedly found multiple active meth labs and other evidence of drug activity at a Plymouth home. Plymouth and Marshall County Police accompanied by Indiana State Police Troopers executed a search warrant at a home in the 1,000 block of North Plum Street last night and arrested three women and a man. Members of the ISP Clandestine Lab Team spent several hours there cleaning up bags of trash labs and materials used in the manufacture of meth. Authorities say details will be released later today.
Starke County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested a man and a woman after reportedly busting a meth lab at a home near Round Lake where a toddler was present. Johnny Mullens and Amber Lain were arrested last Friday after officers served a search warrant for narcotics at a trailer on 200 E. south of Toto Road in Knox and found methamphetamine, precursors used in its manufacture, marijuana, syringes and an active meth lab within reach of a three-year-old male child, according to the arrest report. Officers also found $2,100 in a safe, which was confiscated. Mullens and Lain both face charges of dealing methamphetamine and neglect of a dependent. Mullens is also looking at charges of possession of marijuana and possession of paraphernalia.
A Plymouth couple is jailed without bond after a police officer reportedly found a meth lab in their vehicle during a traffic stop. Roy A. Atkins, 35, and his wife Trudi A. Atkins, 32, were arrested by Plymouth Police Thursday afternoon in the parking lot of a store at Oak Drive and Jefferson Street. The officer who stopped their vehicle noted a strong chemical smell, according to the arrest report. A search turned up an active meth lab and numerous other meth-related items in the back.
A Rochester man police say used a dead man’s driver’s license to buy pseudoephedrine faces identity deception charges. James L. Foster, 56, used a driver’s license issued to Paul Bennett to obtain pseudoephedrine, according to authorities. Bennett died in 2010, and somehow Foster got obtained his driver’s license. The two men have similar attributes. Pseudoephedrine is one of the main ingredients in the manufacture of methamphetamine. State law limits sales of cold medications containing pseudoephedrine in an attempt to curb meth production. Court records indicate Foster displayed Bennett’s license while signing for pseudoephedrine on four separate occasions between June 15 and Dec. 29, 2012, at a Fulton County pharmacy.
Citizens are encouraged to report suspected methamphetamine activity by calling the anonymous Indiana State Police Methamphetamine Tip Line at 1-800-453-4756.
Mary Perren
A Marshall County man and woman are jailed without bond after police found multiple meth labs in their Argos home. Officers with the Undercover Narcotics Investigation Team, Indiana State Police and Marshall County Sheriff’s Office arrested 43-year-old David Howe and 35-year-old Kristi Messick-Eswick, also known as Kristi Miller following a Monday search of their residence on Hickory Road. Their initial hearing in Marshall Superior Court is set for March 12. Anyone with information about illegal drug activity in Marshall County is urged to call the anonymous tip line at1-800-899-0842.
A nonprofit group says an electronic database used by Indiana pharmacists and police to track sales of cold medicines that can be used to produce methamphetamine blocked the sale of more than 57,000 boxes of medicine containing pseudoephedrine during the first six months of 2012.
The Lutherville, Md.-based National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators says data released by the National Precursor Log Exchange shows the system may have kept more than 132,000 grams of pseudoephedrine from being diverted by meth cookers.
A law that took effect Jan. 1 requires retailers selling ephedrine and pseudoephedrine to enter information about buyers and their purchases in the National Precursor Log Exchange. The system issues “stop-sale” alerts if buyers try to purchase more than the allowable limit within a 30-day period.
Knox City Police officers arrested a Knox man Thursday on methamphetamine-related charges after executing an arrest warrant.
Police learned of the whereabouts of Anthony Clemons and confirmed that he had an active arrest warrant for Failure to Appear on narcotics-related charges in Starke Circuit Court. Police arrived at the residence and asked the homeowner if Clemons was there. He was seen on a bed in the home and was ordered to surrender to police before being taken into custody without incident.
