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4/17/2014
By Tom Marshall
Senior Advocate writer
Two more roadside methamphetamine labs were discovered in the county after the Advocate went to press last week. That brings the total number found at three.
Two were found about a quarter of a mile apart on Tonkin Road (one Tuesday, the other Wednesday). The third lab was found within the Mt. Sterling City limits on Hinkston Pike near Garden Springs subdivision Thursday morning.
The labs are now subject to a joint investigation by the Mt. Sterling Police Dept. and the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.
MSPD Chief David Charles told the Advocate that those involved might face federal charges for discarding the one-step or “shake-and-bake” labs near waterways.
The lab found in the city was located near Hinkston Creek.
“This is a very egregious offense,” Chief Charles said. “These things can taint the water supply, damage livestock and potentially get into our drinking supply as well.”
Chief Charles said it appears the labs are being discarded as the suspect or suspects are driving down the road. The three labs appear to be the work of one cook, he said.
The labs were found by Montgomery County Regional Jail inmates working with a road crew cleaning up trash. Inmates on the crew are trained on how to spot a lab.
The inmates are trained for their own safety and that of the public, Jailer Eric Jones said. They did so after a series of more than 60 labs were found along Fogg Pike and Prewitt Pike a couple of years ago.
Jones noted that one woman routinely jogs along Tonkin Road and was shocked to learn that a lab had been found there.
Jones said he also worries about children coming into contact with a lab.
“For a young person who doesn’t know what they’re dealing with it can be very dangerous,” he said.
One of the labs was found in a diaper bag, Jones said. An inmate became suspicious when they picked up the bag and found it weighted down by some sort of object, he said.
The labs were cleaned up by members of a local Clandestine Lab Team made up of law enforcement officers from the MSPD and sheriff’s office.
The team is one of only a handful in the state of Kentucky.
In the past, local law enforcement had to depend on a team from the Kentucky State Police that could take hours to arrive on scene.
“This was a benefit to everyone,” Chief Charles said. “Not only did it benefit our community by greatly reducing the wait time and getting things cleaned up that much faster, but it also took much of the burden off them for this area. It benefits all our agencies.”
Ralph Charles, a det./sgt. with the sheriff’s office and a member of the team, said it has multiple benefits.
“It definitely cuts down on response time by having officers trained here locally to clean them up,” Det./Sgt. Charles said. “Having officers with both agencies helps reduce overtime with each agency.”
The KSP assisted local law enforcement with formation of the team and supplied them with a trailer and equipment needed to do cleanup. The KSP can also use the equipment when doing a cleanup in other local counties.
Authorities encourage anyone who finds something suspicious to report it to the Montgomery County 911 Center at 498-8720, the sheriff’s office at 497-2365 or 498-8704 or police at 498-8899.
You should not attempt to handle a lab yourself. They are extremely toxic and potentially explosive.
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