Mobile Meth Lab Week

Police Find Mobile Meth Lab During Routine Traffic Stop

(LOUISVILLE) -- Police arrested a 25-year-old woman late Monday after they discovered a mobile meth lab inside the car she was driving during a routine traffic stop in the parking lot of the Dollar General Store at Blue Lick Road and South Park.

Jessica Stout now faces a long list of charges, including possession of meth and trafficking within 1,000 yards of a school.

The car turned out to be stolen.

When I think of a meth lab, I think of a lot of things - things that would fill up a basement or garage.  You just don't think of a meth lab being set up in someone's car.  I've heard about police finding mobile meth labs set up in U-Haul trailers being pulled down the road as the meth is cooking inside, but I've never heard of a meth lab in a car before.  That's a new one on me. 

It was interesting that they found the meth lab at a traffic stop at the Dollar General Store parking lot.  I think it has something to do with the store.  About two years ago, I was at our 'hood Dollar General Store, less than a mile from The Compound.  In front of me in the checkout line were two PATs.  Each of them was buying a dozen or so boxes of Sudafed. I kid you not.  Hand to heaven, they each had at least a dozen boxes of Sudafed.  This was back in the day when you didn't have to sign your life away just to buy a box of allery or sinus pills like we do today.  The clerk didn't even raise an eyebrow as she was checking them out.  Let me stop my story and explain in case you don't know where I'm going with this.  They use Sudafed and other allergy and sinus pills to make meth.  And I'm pretty sure that's what those two PATs were going to do with their two dozen boxes of Sudafed.

When it was my turn to check out, I asked the clerk "Aren't you going to get their license plate and call the police?" She looked at me like I had 3 heads.  She said "Why? They didn't shoplift or anything."  I asked her if she didn't think that one person buying a dozen boxes of Sudafed was a bit extreme, and she said "Maybe they're sick." Yes, and maybe you're stupid.  Anyhoo, when I got in my car to leave, the two PATs were still in their car in the parking lot, talking on a cell phone.  I wrote down their license plate and a description of the car and of the two PATs and I immediately called the police to report it.  I don't know what happened after that, but at least I did my part to take a bite out of crime.

In a related story, just yesterday evening, police arrested two more people who also had a mobile meth lab.  My dear friend and faithful reader TaffyLynn reported to me that she was picking up her kids at her mom's yesterday afternoon, and heard about this on her mom's police scanner as it was happening.  The arrest happened after a high-speed chase, and police found the meth lab in a big duffel bag.  The mobile meth labs are getting more and more compact, it seems.