Published: March 15, 2007 11:22 pm         

Drug task force conducts second-largest meth cleanup in Vigo County

Officers spend 8 hours on site with abandoned labs in West Terre Haute

TERRE HAUTE — The Vigo County Drug Task Force had its second-largest ever methamphetamine-related cleanup Wednesday afternoon in West Terre Haute as its members spent eight hours on scene.

A meth-maker had used and abandoned 30 labs in a span of 11 months or more and strewn manufacturing materials along 1.5 acres, said Sheriff Jon Marvel.

“This was not a meth-lab bust,” Marvel said. “This was a meth-lab cleanup.”

Someone has been making meth in that area for a long period of time, he said, and the Drug Task Force has been aware.

“We just have not been able to penetrate their circle and get in and make an arrest,” Marvel said.

“I don’t want to give the impression that this was 30 people with 30 different labs all over our county and have everyone think that meth labs are on the rise again,” he said. “This is one individual or a couple of individuals that we know has been doing this for a long period of time.”

The meth-making ingredients were found just off Mulberry Street and included one-gallon fuel cans, lithium batteries, pseudoephedrine pill waste and altered propane tanks that held anhydrous ammonia.

All of the disposed labs are inactive.

A concerned citizen notified the Sheriff’s Department, and four members of the task force executed the cleanup.

“Even if we had to forego his arrest, we had to get out there and clean up the mess,” Marvel said. “This substantiates what we knew all along — that this guy is a major methamphetamine manufacturer.”

Detective John Moats, a crime-scene technician, dusted two pieces of evidence for fingerprints at the Sheriff’s Department Thursday.

A mini-propane tank and a one-gallon fuel tank tested negative for prints.

“The paint oxidized and doesn’t make for a good surface,” Moats said.

“It absorbs oils, so there won’t be anything left. There’s smudges and smears, but nothing real good,” he said as he dusted a propane tank taken from the cleanup scene.

“Unlike CSI on TV, you’re just not that lucky. If they’re there, they’re there,” he said. “If they’re not, they’re not. It’s just one of those things; it’s a crap shoot every time.”

The largest cleanup was in 2002 in Prairie Creek, where officers spent 36 hours removing meth-related materials.

Anyone with information is encouraged to call the task force at (812) 877-0401 or Crime Stoppers at (812) 238-STOP. Marvel said if a Crime Stoppers tip leads to an arrest or prosecution in this case, a $1,000 reward could be issued.

Laura Followell can be reached at (812) 231-4253 or laura.followell@tribstar.com.