Police in several counties seeing more backpack meth labs

by Ed Ernstes (ernstes@wsbt.com)

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Mobile meth labs stored in backpacks are turning up in Elkhart, Kosciusko and Marshall counties. (WSBT photo)

By Beth Boehne

Story Created: Nov 14, 2007 at 4:08 PM EST

Story Updated: Feb 21, 2008 at 7:09 PM EST

Police are dealing with a new problem in fighting illegal drugs: mobile meth labs stored in backpacks.

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Officers arrested 21-year-old Robert Winings Wednesday morning. They found a backpack with chemicals and items used to make meth in his car.

These backpack meth labs are turning up in Elkhart, Kosciusko and Marshall counties.

The Indiana State Police unit out of the Bremen post that dismantles meth labs has been out on the road a lot lately.

They've been dealing with a relatively new form of meth production.

Chemicals are placed in a backpack that's usually kept outdoors or in a car. It then becomes a mobile lab to make meth.

"Backpack labs are becoming much more common,” explained Trooper Jason Faulstich, a meth suppression officer with the Indiana State Police. “Because of the new method they using, it’s called the 'one pot,' they can combine everything in a backpack, carry it around, put it in their cars and drive around while it’s cooking, and then disperse it from there.”

He says this new process is very dangerous. It involves using volatile
chemicals that, mixed wrong, can self-detonate and cause an explosion.

“Yes, the new method, the one pot method they're using, they are combining different components together,” Faulstich said. “And if they're not careful, or they don't vent it properly, the bottle or container that they are actually doing the reaction in can detonate and actually cause a flame ball or actually detonate into a small explosion inside the car."

Similar setups have been found in Marshall as well as Kosciusko counties.

“In Marshall County we've been battling this problem for a while now. We've found numerous backpacks along the roadways, out in wooded areas,” Faulstich said. “In Mentone, Friday, Mentone PD conducted a traffic stop. They recognized the items as meth lab-related items. That subject had entire active, full going lab."

In that traffic stop in Mentone on Friday, police found an active meth lab in the car. They also found a cylinder containing anhydrous ammonia. It's a key ingredient for making meth.

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