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HUNTSVILLE — Authorities on Sunday seized a methamphetamine lab in a bust that is being called the largest meth bust in Scott County’s history.
Randy Lowe, of Huntsville, was jailed on charges of manufacturing methamphetamine, felony possession of meth for resale and felony possession of drug paraphernalia. He is being held on a $25,000 bond.
Armed with a search warrant issued by the District Attorney General’s office, Scott County Sheriff’s Department personnel descended on Lowe’s Straight Fork Road mobile home Sunday evening.
According to Narcotics Detective Kris Lewallen, he and Sheriff Anthony Lay, Chief Deputy Bobby Ellis, and K-9 officers Danny Phillips and Roger Douglas executed the search warrant shortly before 11 p.m. Sunday.
Allegedly, a “mega lab” was discovered at the home. According to Lewallen, authorities with an Eagle Hazmat cleanup team determined that the materials on site could have produced 20 pounds of finished methamphetamine.
The cleanup crew was required to obtain an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) representative due to the amount of chemicals and ammonium nitrate that was transported away from the site.
Authorities allege that Lowe was also making his own anhydrous gas.
“The process used to make anhydrous gas is a very dangerous and lethal process,” Sheriff Lay said. “Anytime you mix ammonium nitrate with other explosive material and create a gas from combining them, the chance for something lethal to happen is enormous.”
Lewallen stated that officers recovered seven grams of meth, along with digital weighing scales, plastic baggies and 2.5 gallons of “meth oil” waiting to be gassed off in order to obtain finished meth.
“This seizure has been recorded as the biggest methamphetamine lab seizure in the history of Scott County,” Lay said. “It took nine hours for my deputies, along with the help from the other crews, to conduct the cleanup process of this mega meth lab. I appreciate their hard work and dedication to Scott County.”
Lay said the lab had been under investigation for three years, and indicated that the investigation had cut off a major meth pipeline between Scott and Anderson counties.
