Meth lab seized in Decatur

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

— Police arrested Bryan Lynn, 30, of Decatur, after finding a mobile meth lab inside a backpack behind the apartments on Randall Lane in Decatur on March 18.

The meth lab was found just a week after local law enforcement agencies received the news that federal funding for meth labs has been cut.

The Decatur Police Department received an anonymous tip that someone was cooking meth at an apartment on Randall Lane, with children inside the home, according to the affidavit of probable cause. Officer Jeannie Yates responded to the apartment building and immediately noticed a strong chemical odor, according to the affidavit. With the help of neighbors and apartment maintenance manager Patrick Beats, Yates traced the smell to Lynn’s apartment. She knocked on the door and couldn’t hear any movement inside the home. Yates eventually found the backpack along with two bottles of liquid on the sofa behind the apartment building, the affidavit stated.

The Benton County Drug Task Force was called to assist with cleanup and processing of the scene, according to the affidavit. Gravette Police Officer Jeff Turner also responded to assist.

Lynn was arrested by Decatur Officer Chuck Eggebrecht after police heard him moving around in the woods in the hollow near the apartments, according to the police report. Lynn told police he heard them knock on his door and went out the back window to hide in the woods. Lynn said he thought police had left and decided to return home when he was caught, the report stated.

Lynn’s children were not at home at the time of the arrest. He told police he had dropped his children off at school that morning before coming home to process two boxes of 12-hour cold pills, the report stated.

Lynn signed a consent to allow police to search his apartment. Drug paraphernalia - including three syringes, two Pyrex baking dishes coated with residue, a razor blade with white residue, a light bulb with burnt residue inside, Zig Zag rolling papers and a clear plastic baggy with marijuana residue inside - were found during the search, police reports stated. Police also found a marijuana pipe with burnt marijuana residue inside it in a dresser drawer alongside children’s clothing.

“Shake-n-bake” mobile meth labs, like the one Lynn was using, are a growing problem because they make it extremely easy to produce drugs, according to Decatur Police Chief Terry Luker. The labs use one liter soda bottles to mix chemicals and cook the methamphetamine, he said.

Luker said his department has found one other mobile meth lab in Decatur and said he expects to find more in the future.

“It’s definitely going to be a problem because it’s so easy for them to make,” he said.

During an interview, Lynn allegedly told police they would not believe how easy it was to make meth using this method. Lynn told police he usually placed the meth lab in a backpack, stopped at the end of the driveway to the apartments, walked into the wooded area and left the backpack, then came back 30 minutes later and picked it up, because he did not want to cook the drugs around his children, the report stated.

The lab was discovered just a week after city officials learned that federal funding would no longer cover the costs of cleaning up meth labs. The chemicals in the labs are very dangerous and can only be cleaned up by certified professional cleaning companies.

Luker said it cost the police department $1,024 to hire Safety and Environmental Associates to clean up Lynn’s lab. The cost will completely wipe out the department’s drug fund for the year, he said. Money inthe drug fund comes from court fines of drug users, he explained.

Luker said he is applying for a grant from the EPA to help cover the costs of cleaning up this lab but is not sure how the department will cover the costs of cleaning up labs in the future.

On Monday, Lynn was being held in the Benton County Jail with a $41,500 bond set. He was charged with manufacturing methamphetamine, possession with intent to deliver and possession of drug paraphernalia.

News, Pages 1 on 04/06/2011