Pubdate: Sun, 11 Sep 2005 Source: Salisbury Post (NC) Copyright: 2005 Post Publishing Co. Contact: http://www.salisburypost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/380 Author: Jonathan Weaver Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) Series: Coming Clean (Part 1C) FROM FIRST METH LAB IN 2000, COUNTY'S PROBLEM HAS GROWN They've been found in a backyard camper, a rental house kitchen, a garage and the back of an SUV. Methamphetamine laboratory seizures have come in spurts in Rowan County since authorities raided the first true lab in 2000. Like many other eastern states, North Carolina first started seeing signs of the problem in the late 1990s and early in 2000s. Rowan County followed suit. Authorities uncovered the first lab in early 2000. After a three-year lull, four labs, including two mobile or "box" labs, were discovered in the county in 2003. Authorities found four more meth-making operations the following year. Deputies have raided one home so far this year. Here are the methamphetamine lab seizures in Rowan County: 2000 - -- Early 2000: Authorities raid a mobile home on Liberty Road. The bust closed down the first known lab in Rowan County. 2003 - -- May 5: Rowan Sheriff's deputies raid a home at 7545 Bringle Ferry Road and find a "box" or mobile methamphetamine lab in the master bedroom and another in a garage of the home. - -- Sept. 3: Authorities need eight hours to dismantle a meth lab on Oakwood Avenue in Salisbury. A monitor detects anhydrous ammonia fumes inside the house and methamphetamine residue on instruments, leading officers to ventilate the house by breaking out windows and opening doors before allowing anyone back inside. Trappings of a typical meth-lab site are evident - things such as propane tanks, filters, fans and an anhydrous ammonia tank inside a U-haul parked beside the house. Police charge the two men who lived in the rental house with possession of chemicals used in a meth lab. - -- Sept. 25: A mobile lab is found in the trunk of a 1987 Chevrolet Cavalier. - -- Oct. 27: After watching the activity around a storage facility at Security Mini-Storage on Old Wilkesboro Road for several weeks, Salisbury Police and Rowan County Sheriff's Deputies search a unit and uncover two anhydrous ammonia tanks, one of which was homemade with a standard gas grill propane tank. Authorities also find and "a lot of ether," according to officers at the scene. - -- In September: A traffic stop on Emanuel Church Road leads to the seizure of a mobile lab stuffed in the back of a red GMC Jimmy. 2004 - -- Feb. 25: Rowan Sheriff's Deputies raid a home and backyard camper at 375 Nazareth Children's Home Road. The case was the first in which children were present at the time of the search. Along with precursor items like anhydrous ammonia and a large quantity of pseudoephedrine, searchers find a plastic Mountain Dew bottle containing brown and white material, with a lid and plastic tubing extending from the lid. That set up, according to a lab report completed by the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation, is consistent with a hydrochloride gas generator used in making meth. - -- May 1: Authorities respond to a wooded area in southeastern Rowan County and find a large duffel bag and bucket full of items used to craft methamphetamine. A suspicious neighbor called in the report after seeing news accounts about the growing methamphetamine problem. - -- May 28: A raid at a home at 569 Hannah Ferry Road turns up many of the household products used to make the meth, including lye, rock salt and camping fuel. - -- Oct. 6: Deputies find what they describe as a "backwoods lab" during a raid at 815 W. Park Drive off N.C. 152. Investigators find fertilizer, rock salt and other precursor items in woods around the home. 2005 - -- March 29: A search of a home at 433 Correll Loop yields some of the ingredients to manufacture methamphetamine, including pseudoephedrine and several chemicals, authorities said. Officers also find two jars of liquid concealed inside a wall of the home. - --- MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman