How To Spot An Illegal Drug Lab When You Are Viewing Homes
I attended a class at my office yesterday that was so informative regarding homes with meth-labs, marijuana growers, etc... This is some very scary stuff and I wish we didn't have to worry about it, but it is a sign of the times. IF you think that you only run into this in the lower priced homes, it isn't the case.
The gentleman that taught the class was a Forensic Industrial Hygienist. He has seen it all, and shared a lot with us. Some of the information was common sense, but I am pretty naive about this sort of thing, so I found a lot of it to be new and helpful.
Have you ever been showing a home and looked at something and said- "That is WEIRD?" Well, according to this man, that is the first red flag that should alert you.
We talked about what to look for in a meth lab or a marijuana grow operation. He stated that even the "legal" pot-growers in the homes have altered things in the home that make it unsafe or not up to code.
These are the general things he talked about to look for in a home that has been used for a meth lab or a grow-operation (marijuana).
Unusual lighting
Altered ventilation (to mask the odor often with charcoal)
Smoke detectors disabled or plastic wrap over
Records of increased amounts of electricity in the home (the lights burn lots of electricity).
Modified plumbing.
Huge amounts of kitty litter- sometimes this is disposed of in the yard.
Lots of hooks up high that look like they are out of place (think hanging Christmas lights inside, but these are used to hang the buds.)
Tape, hooks, nails, staples, or holes in general around the windows. The windows need to be blacked out and most growers will just staple something up around the windows.
Coffee grinders with white substance- not brown.
Jars with liquids. Most often you will see a liquid on top of a liquid in the jar- never labeled.
Jars with solids and liquids.
hoses.
coffee pots (connected to the hoses).
Smoking Pipes- obvious!
Lots of things that seem to be out of place. The example he gave was things you would use in your garage normally, found in the kitchen. Or if a normal house has one bottle of HEET, then a meth house may have 20 bottles of it.
Duct tape on the floor.
Burns on the carpet.
Ghosting on the wall- from the chemicals.
Metal rusted (usually from an explosion in a meth lab).
He also said often times you will see writing of random things on the walls, like grocery lists, journals, etc...He showed a picture of this and it was creepy.
Filthy dirty house (you just don't see a clean meth lab he said).
You can order your own meth tests from a company called SKC Incorporated. He stated that if you do your own testing then a positive reading is definitely positive, but a negative reading could be inconclusive. The best way to get accurate meth testing is from a qualified Industrial Hygienist.
This guy was amazing. He has seen it all. He is also a cop. My favorite story was of his easiest drug bust ever. A guy was driving backwards down the road. He followed him and stopped him. When he asked the guy if he knew why he was being stopped, the guy replied, "Is it because of all of my drugs in the backseat?" Priceless!
I am going to share his name and if you live in Colorado, and need an Industrial Hygienist to inspect your home, I would highly recommend him. Caoimhin Connell. Phone- 303-903-7494 www.forensic-applications.com
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