Tag Archives: Meth Labs

by | September 19, 2013 · 6:19 am

Hospitality Industry Crime Risks: Missouri Motel Evacuated After “Meth Lab” Discovered In Room; Suspect Was “Cutting Up Batteries” Outside Door

“…on the second-floor of the motel, the officer saw a man sitting outside his hotel room cutting up batteries…the officer asked him what he was Hotel Meth Lab Risksdoing and, at the same time, noticed the door ajar and some fumes or vapors coming out of the door…(he) pushed the door open and a larger cloud of vapors came out…the man cutting the batteries had been cooking methamphetamine in his room, police say…”

A motel guest cutting up batteries outside his room stirred the suspicions of a Sunset Hills police officer, who uncovered a meth lab at the EconoLodge early today.

The officer, overcome by fumes, was taken to a hospital after complaining of being lightheaded. And all of the remaining motel guests in the entire east wing of the motel were evacuated by police and firefighters for about three hours early Thursday until the mobile meth lab was removed.

A man in his 30s was arrested on suspicion of drug manufacturing. “He was apparently trying to do this with the shake-and-bake method,” LeGrand said, referring to the mobile method of making the drug. “But he forgot some ingredient and, because of that, he decided to heat some of this mixture in the microwave.”

The guests who were evacauted from the hotel after midnight were allowed to return to their rooms at about 3 a.m. after the county’s drug unit removed the materials.

For more:  http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/meth-fumes-force-evacuation-of-sunset-hills-motel-police-officer/article_050e5fce-4812-5a5a-b6cd-3bbe86afe68b.html

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by | August 20, 2013 · 6:06 am

Hospitality Industry Crime Risks: Florida Hotels Plagued By “Mini Meth Labs” Transported In Suitcases; Thousands To Make Room Safe Again

“…the (hotel) manager said despite the lab being small it had cost thousands to make the room safe again and he felt there was little he could do to stop it happening again…mix of precursor chemicals and substances used in drug production, drug lab Hotel Meth Lab Riskssites have been known to cause explosions, flash burns, fires, toxic fumes, poisonous gases, damage to the environment, injury to members of the community and even death…the equipment used to make the labs was easily sourced from hardware stores and included anything from jars and beakers, to soft drink bottles and plastic tubing…for each lab uncovered, there are about 10 that aren’t…”

MINI drug labs small enough to fit inside suitcases are being set up in high-end, inner-city Gold Coast hotels to feed an illicit substance epidemic.  And Gold Coast hotel managers say they are unable to stop it. Police and even hotel cleaners reveal the city is one of the most popular targets for drug makers, who use hotel bathrooms to “cook” methamphetamines and then take them in limited supplies to popular Coast nightspots.

Statistics obtained by a Gold Coast Bulletin Right to Information request show 32 clandestine drug labs have been busted on the Coast since January 2012, and at least nine were found in units.

Meth Lab Cleanup director Jenny Boymal said they were just the tip of the iceberg.

For more:  http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2013/08/20/456662_crime-and-court-news.html

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by | November 23, 2012 · 9:08 am

Hospitality Industry Crime Risks: North Carolina Motel Damaged After Meth Lab Explodes Inside Room

Agents with the State Bureau of Investigation donned chemical gear to sift through the rubble of the motel room to determine the cause of the explosion. Investigators said some of the materials used to make methamphetamine are highly flammable.

The front of a Dudley motel blew out early Friday when a methamphetamine lab inside one of the rooms exploded, authorities said. The explosion occurred at about 4:15 a.m. at the Old Goldwater Motel, 3428 U.S. Highway 117 Alternate. The Mar-Mac Fire Department responded to the motel, but authorities said the building sustained little or no fire damage.

Valentine Morales, who lives at the motel with his family, said the explosion awakened him as he slept on a sofa. He said his first thoughts were for his wife and three children sleeping in the next rooms.

Two of the people injured in the blast ran to Jeffrey Aultman’s house nearby for help.

“It scared me. I was getting ready to go out the door, and it was bang, bang, bang, and it shook me up,” Aultman said, noting that he initially thought the men at his door had been in a vehicle wreck.

Two of the injured drove themselves to Wayne Memorial Hospital in Goldsboro, authorities said. Wayne County EMS took two more people to the hospital.

For more: http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/9255785/

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by | September 26, 2012 · 6:17 am

Hospitality Industry Crime Risks: "Strong Smell" Leads Police To Meth Lab In Florida Motel Room

“…It’s  a huge public safety issue. The chemicals involved are volatile, can be volatile especially when mixed together. People that don’t know what they’re doing, even people who are experienced at cooking, still cause fires, explosions…”

Two men are accused of setting up a meth lab in a Tallahassee motel. It happened at the Super 8 motel on North Monroe Street.  Deputies say a tip led them to room 229 and the strong smell led them to a meth lab inside.

Jack Peppers and Kevin Smith – both of Thomasville – are accused of trafficking in meth, manufacturing meth and having the ingredients to make more. Deputies say one batch of the meth was ready and divided up for use.  Another batch, they say, was being chemically cooked upstairs.

“The dry product, we had about 16 grams which is worth about $1600 on the street which is pretty significant for what they consider a small lab,” said SGT Ed Cook with LCSO’s Vice and Narcotics Unit. “They also had another 500 grams of product that was still cooking.”

Deputies had to ventilate the room for hours before going inside to clean it up.  They say all of the adjoining rooms were vacant so they did not have to evacuate any other motel guests.

For more:  http://www.wctv.tv/news/headlines/Meth-Bust-at-Tallahassee-Motel-171177501.html

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by | July 29, 2012 · 8:01 am

Hospitality Industry Crime Risks: Pennsylvania Hotel Evacuated After "Meth Lab" Chemicals And Materials Discovered In Third-Floor Room

“…Hotels and motels are increasingly used by meth-makers because the chemicals used – which can include lighter fuel, lye, lithium, and acetone, among other dangerous substances – seep into fabrics, furniture, and floors, according the Department of Justice website…” 

“You basically destroy someone’s hotel room, and then you leave.”

At least 300 guests were evacuated from the Hampton Inn at 1301 Race St. about 5:30 a.m. as first Philadelphia firefighters, then the Police Department’s homeland security and terrorism unit arrived to handle the volatile chemicals left behind by a would-be meth-maker.

Investigators discovered in a third-floor room the chemicals and materials used in the “one-pot” or “shake-and-bake” method of producing the dangerous, highly addictive stimulant.

The procedure can result in toxic fumes and explosions, leave behind a dangerous trail of chemicals, and render the room uninhabitable.

For more:  http://www.philly.com/philly/news/pennsylvania/20120729_Makeshift_meth_lab_forces_evacuation_of_Center_City_hotel.html

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by | July 6, 2012 · 6:56 am

Hospitality Industry Crime Risks: Florida Motels To Work With Police To Identify And Avoid Meth Lab Operations In Guest Rooms

At the end of the month … police will have a training program to educate hotels on how to identify potential meth dealers looking for a temporary base to cook. In the last three months there have been three drug lab busts in two Motel 6 locations in Jacksonville.

The problem of meth labs in local motel rooms seems to be growing, but there is a renewed focus on stopping the spread.

Fred Pozin, General Manager of the Ramada in Mandarin, tells WOKV they work directly with the Sheriff’s Office to try and seek out the users.

For more:  http://www.wokv.com/weblogs/morning-news-recap/2012/jul/06/stopping-mobile-meth-labs/

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by | May 28, 2012 · 6:56 am

Hospitality Industry Health Hazards: Meth Labs Discovered At Hotels And Motels Force "Temporary Closure" As Tests And Contamination Cleanup Required; Process Can Take Weeks Or Even Months To Complete

Once a lab is discovered at a hotel or motel, owners must temporarily close their establishments while a contractor is called to test and cleanup the contamination. This process can take weeks and even months…If undetected, the poisonous chemicals in meth can circulate throughout a hotel and can lead to respiratory problems, skin and eye irritation, headaches nausea and dizziness. Short-term exposure to highly concentrated meth can cause severe lung damage and burns to various parts of the body.

Authorities say methamphetamine creation inside hotel rooms is increasing as crews work to test and clean the latest contamination closure in Kanawha County. Police and health officials have responded to at least 10 meth lab calls in hotels or motels in West Virginia since January, said Brandon Lewis, state program coordinator for the Clandestine Drug Laboratory Rehabilitation Program. In all of 2011, he said, only two or three labs were found at hotels.

Lewis said meth cooking inside these rooms is troublesome to owners and health officials alike — and it’s a problem that is not going away anytime soon.

On May 18, Kanawha County sheriff’s deputies discovered the most recent case at the Comfort Inn in Cross Lanes. Deputies arrested two suspects and charged them with attempting to operate a clandestine drug lab upon finding a Coleman fuel can and a bottle of nail polish remover, common substances used to make meth, inside their room.

The hotel remains closed until a hazardous-cleanup company can decontaminate the rooms to safe meth exposure levels, about 0.1 microgram of residue per 100 square centimeters.

For more:  http://sundaygazettemail.com/News/201205270138

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