Meth labs pose double threat
After officials find what appears to be a “rolling meth lab” parked in a secluded area, two suspects flee from police inside a silver Ford Rapter pickup truck, firing multiple rounds at pursing state police troopers, before the vehicle slams into a home; the truck’s occupants immediately leave the vehicle behind and take refuge in a nearby empty house. Hours later, one suspect is in custody and the other is dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
While it sounds like a scenario that might be cooked up by writers for the illicit methamphetamine-focused television show ‘Breaking Bad,’ the scene is what police say played out Friday in Fayette County.
Police said that Donald Ray Brown, 53, of Buckhannon, W.Va., was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a single-story home at 216 Center Ave., North Union Township, where he had barricaded himself for more than 9 hours.
Brown’s alleged accomplice, Jessica Lynn Phillips, 28, also of Buckhannon, has been charged with four counts of aggravated assault, attempted homicide, conspiracy to commit homicide, three counts of reckless endangerment, fleeing or attempting to elude police and several other charges in connection with the police chase that led to the standoff.
And, officers say, the entire incident began when a state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources officer spotted the couple acting suspicious and detected elements that led him to believe Brown and Phillips were operating an illegal methamphetamine lab.
According to information compiled by the Associated Press, illegal methamphetamine labs — including mobile meth labs — are continuing to grow in popularity across the nation, especially in suburban areas.
Police have reported spikes in meth lab seizures in Kansas, Indiana, Missouri, Tennessee and West Virginia, and authorities said there is evidence that inner-city gangs are becoming involved in meth production and distribution.
In an October 2012 report, the Associated Press indicated that Mexican “super labs” are increasing production, making meth more pure and less expensive and then using existing drug pipelines in big cities to move the drug.
And while meth labs and “meth culture” might be new to the region, where police say heroin and prescription narcotics remain the illegal drugs of choice, meth labs are on the rise in the surrounding areas and meth use and production are becoming popular in illegal drug circles, officials said.
“Meth labs have been around for a while, and we have trained and prepared for it,” Fayette County District Attorney Jack R. Heneks Jr. said, noting that he has attended training seminars regarding meth labs and officers across the county have received training regarding the dangerous and volatile nature of the drug. “We have had no (people who run) meth labs prosecuted in Fayette County, and my task force members have not reported any interaction with methamphetamine production.”
Whereas when officers kick in a door in a drug raid and seize marijuana or heroin or crack, methamphetamine is not something officers can so easily take custody of, Heneks said, adding that the drug is not only dangerous to those who consume it, but those who manufacture it.
“We are aware of it and officers are trained in understanding what could happen if a lab were to be discovered,” Heneks said. “It is very dangerous to move into an active lab operation.”
State police Trooper Stefani Plume said that troopers have been preparing for problems associated with methamphetamine use and meth labs for some time and noted that prepared and informational sheet about meth labs that was sent to area media outlets in March of 2012 when production began to ramp up across the region.
Officials said that the mobile meth production has skyrocketed as drug “cookers” have learned that they no longer need to be in a secluded area to avoid detection because of chemical smells as over-the-counter cold medications can now be used in a method known as “shake and bake.”
Police say the cold medicine is combined with a toxic additive, like battery acid, and then shaken together in plastic soda bottles.
Heneks said that pharmacies keep detailed logs to “closely monitor” the sales of medications used often in the creation of meth in an attempt to combat illegal production.
But that hasn’t slowed illicit production of the drug cropping up across Pennsylvania.
On Christmas Eve, police said they discovered a mobile meth lab in the parking lot of a Philadelphia area Walmart.
This summer, police near Wilkes-Barre charged a Mount Carmel woman with multiple drug counts after officers found her making methamphetamine in a mobile home, in the presence of her three young children.
And the day before the police chase and standoff in North Union Township, a state police trooper in Jefferson County was shot while attempting to serve a search warrant on a suspected methamphetamine lab.