A smoking “meth lab” tossed into a Dumpster prompted concerned citizens to water it down Saturday, but that only made the concoction flare up, said Bulloch County Public Safety Director Ted Wynn.
Three plastic beverage bottles, tied together and holding what was described by firefighters through radio conversation as some sort of fertilizer,” were tossed into a Dumpster off Two Chop Road and Ga. 25 Saturday afternoon, he said.
Apparently the contraption, which Wynn said appeared to be “meth lab paraphernalia,” started smoldering inside the trash container. When citizens spotted the smoke, they tried to extinguish it with water, which “activated it further,” he said.
Firefighters responded to the scene and stopped the reaction, then contacted the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Department and Bulloch County Drug Suppression team, according to reports.
Manufacturing methamphetamine has evolved from people “cooking” the drug over a heat source to using simple methods often referred to as “ shake and bake,” according to reports. Methamphetamine is made from a variety of common household ingredients and pseudoephedrine, a drug found in many cold medicines.
Buyers of products with pseudoephedrine are limited to the amount purchased, and must record personal information when doing so. According to reports, methamphetamine makers often pay others to purchase the products, which is called “smurfing.”
Drug agents are investigating the meth lab incident. Anyone with information on the case is asked to call the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Department at (912) 764-8888, Anderson said.