02/08/10 - Gibson County
By: Brandon
Artiles
bartiles@wbbjtv.com
bartiles@wbbjtv.com
6:53 p.m.
The West Tennessee Violent Crimes and Drug Task Force started the month of February as busy as they ended the month of January. The DTF netted six meth related arrests last week, with the most recent on February 6 during a traffic stop in Milan.
According to DTF Special Agent Donny Blackwell, Thomas Eugene Carlson, Jr. and Leah Nicole Gunn were pulled over last Saturday night. During the stop investigators discovered meth making materials in the vehicle, Blackwell said.
The DTF has had a very active first 39 days of 2010. “Things are picking up as-far-as methamphetamine,” Blackwell said. “In January, we had 13 meth related arrests.” All the arrests were the result of busts in Gibson and Haywood counties. In February, DTF investigators have busted two labs each, in Gibson and Haywood counties.
As if the abuse of meth is not disturbing enough, Blackwell said they are seeing some disturbing trends in the new year that is making their fight against meth much more difficult. ”We combat the meth cooks and the problem with that is it doesn’t do away with the people who are addicted to meth,” Blackwell said.
Blackwell said that the addicts are now resorting to more “simplified” methods of cooking meth, that the special agent said is “extremely dangerous”. The active ingredients, such as, lithium, ether and ammonium creates a combustible combination. “And when you put that in a solution with ether or a highly combustible solvent, it’s an explosion waiting to happen,” Blackwell said.
In addition to the dangers of preparing and using the narcotic, Blackwell is concerned that “cooks” are implementing new ways of obtaining the drug’s vital ingredient: pseudoephedrine. “Meth cooks are offering, in a range from $30 to $50 per box of pseudoephedrine,” Blackwell said. That variable is now luring a new type of contributor to this epidemic, according to Blackwell.
The West Tennessee Violent Crimes and Drug Task Force started the month of February as busy as they ended the month of January. The DTF netted six meth related arrests last week, with the most recent on February 6 during a traffic stop in Milan.
According to DTF Special Agent Donny Blackwell, Thomas Eugene Carlson, Jr. and Leah Nicole Gunn were pulled over last Saturday night. During the stop investigators discovered meth making materials in the vehicle, Blackwell said.
The DTF has had a very active first 39 days of 2010. “Things are picking up as-far-as methamphetamine,” Blackwell said. “In January, we had 13 meth related arrests.” All the arrests were the result of busts in Gibson and Haywood counties. In February, DTF investigators have busted two labs each, in Gibson and Haywood counties.
As if the abuse of meth is not disturbing enough, Blackwell said they are seeing some disturbing trends in the new year that is making their fight against meth much more difficult. ”We combat the meth cooks and the problem with that is it doesn’t do away with the people who are addicted to meth,” Blackwell said.
Blackwell said that the addicts are now resorting to more “simplified” methods of cooking meth, that the special agent said is “extremely dangerous”. The active ingredients, such as, lithium, ether and ammonium creates a combustible combination. “And when you put that in a solution with ether or a highly combustible solvent, it’s an explosion waiting to happen,” Blackwell said.
In addition to the dangers of preparing and using the narcotic, Blackwell is concerned that “cooks” are implementing new ways of obtaining the drug’s vital ingredient: pseudoephedrine. “Meth cooks are offering, in a range from $30 to $50 per box of pseudoephedrine,” Blackwell said. That variable is now luring a new type of contributor to this epidemic, according to Blackwell.