Meth Bust in St. Albans & Georgia

[Chris Santee]

PRESS RELEASE
St. Albans Police Department

Issued:   July 20, 2010
Chief Gary L. Taylor
     
On July 20, 2010 at approximately 1259 hours, the St. Albans Police Department initiated an investigation into the possibility of a METH Lab site at 55 Fairfield Street also commonly referred to as #49 Lincoln Avenue in St. Albans City.

Police have subsequently confirmed the presence of a METH lab at this location and the State METH Lab Team has been called out. An immediate evacuation of the building and adjacent residents was conducted. A second, related METH Lab site has also been identified at 102 Lower Newton, Lot 8 and has been secured. At least one other potentially contaminated METH site has been identified in Georgia, VT and law enforcement and Georgia Fire Officials have secured that scene as well.

Incident Command has been established at the St. Albans City Fire Station. Representatives of: the St. Albans City Police, City and Town Fire Department, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department, the Vermont State Police, the Vermont Army National Guard (Civil Support Unit), Vermont Hazardous Materials, VEM, the American Red Cross and the Georgia Fire Department all are on scene.

An emergency evacuation Center has been established by the City of St. Albans and the American Red Cross at City Hall. At last report as many as twenty individuals may have been temporarily displaced as the result of the evacuation.

[Stand Alone Defense]

Great job guys!!!!!!!! I have a buddy that is an officer in Iowa and hearing the stories of what has happened in his little town we do not want meth coming into Franklin county!!!!!!!!

[cedarman]

To echo Josh's comment:  kudos to all personnel on this bust and removing some of this junk from our area.  Not only does it's use ultimately lead to increased crime, not to mention health issues for the users, but the cooking of the drug in make shift labs can pose some significant dangers (fire/explosions) for everyone who lives nearby.

[slpott]

I find this very frightening. St. Albans is having a rough time it seems. What do you do? How do you do it? It won't be long and it will be here if we are not careful.

[Kathleen]

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it's already here!  With 2 meth labs in St. Albans and another in Georgia, what do you think all the break-ins in Fairfax have been about?

But the community has a lot of power; just be vigilant and mindful of your neighbors and your surroundings.

[GamingWeasel]

I agree.  Realistically, it's probably been here for quite some time.  Maybe not a lab itself, but at least people who use it.  Those existing labs that were found had to be selling their stuff to somebody somewhere.

When I was going through the security clearance process for my current job with DHS, the investigator who came to town quickly concluded that some activity she had seen strongly indicated illicit drugs.

[K. Greenia]

I believe I heard in a training that for every one lab they know about, there are an average 10 they don't. It's here and it's a problem. Best defense against it is knowledge. Know what to look for, and what to do.

Here is a great website that gives you an idea of what the look for. 

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/17893/how_to_spot_a_home_meth_lab_and_what.html?cat=5

[Linda]

The St. Albans addresses have been all over the news...anyone know where in Georgia?

[greenek]

I believe the location in Georgia is the fairly new self storage units on 104A, just off Route 7. When we passed by there last night around 6:15 or so, I noticed a number of fire apparatus there. I thought it was attributable to a fire nearby.

Kevin

[Stand Alone Defense]

I know that there is a drug problem in our town but to be honnest I have seen alot less of it in the last 7-8 months.  Maybe the dealers are getting smarter or maybe I have lost my touch at spotting them but it wasn't long ago that I could do my rounds through town and on any given day spot 1 or 2 deals in progress.  The park an ride on Mcnall road was really good for that activity I use to see alot of deals there and keep the State Police well informed on the people doing it.  Now I really might see it 1 or 2 times a month weather that means that the activity is going down or the dealers are getting smarter I do not know.  Or like I said maybe I have just lost my knack for spotting things lol.