June 27, 2015
Martin County deputies investigate camper fire, meth lab
What started as a meth lab investigation, turned into a larger problem.
Martin County sheriff’s deputies are investigating a fire that happened in the Beauty community Wednesday night. They do not know if the fire was caused by an explosion or arson.
The entire situation began when Martin County officials were called to a suspicious camper Wednesday night. According to Martin County Sheriff John Kirk, one of his deputies went to the camper on Smith Road in the Beauty community on Wednesday night after receiving a call about a possible meth lab.
“We had received a call from another deputy that had gotten a tip of a meth lab, a possible meth lab,” according to Kirk.
When the deputies arrived on scene, they saw five people running away, four men and a woman, who all took off and ran into the heavy brush near the camper .
Upon investigation, the meth lab was discovered inside the camper, along with, items to make meth, deputies said.
Adding to the investigation, on Thursday morning around 7 AM, Sheriff Kirk got a report that the camper was on fire.
“We believe that possibly either they went back and cooked meth and possibly there was an explosion or that they went back and burned the camper to try and cover up the evidence,” Kirk said.
An arson investigator is looking into the cause of the fire.
Sheriff Kirk said meth continues to be a problem in Martin County.
“Meth is a very dangerous drug. it’s deadly and its proven that it’s deadly. You have fires, you have a lot of explosions during meth cooking.”
Kirk added, “We are cracking down on it. were finding more and more every day. We’re getting more and more tips. we just hope that the public will continue to give us the tips.”
Officials said they have strong leads on who they believe is behind the meth lab. Sheriff Kirk says his department does have suspects in connection with the meth lab and he expects to present the case to an upcoming grand jury. Noone has been arrested as a result of the investigation at this time.
If anyone has any information that can help, call the Martin County Sheriff’s Department at 606-298-2828.
