Police offer tips for spotting a meth cooker

       How do you know if someone in your neighborhood is a methamphetamine manufacturer?
       The Colorado Springs Police Department recommends that citizens be on the lookout for containers of acetone, toluene, methanol or methyl alcohol, denatured alcohol, ether, anhydrous ammonia, lithium, red phosphorous, iodine or iodine crystals, muriatic acid, sulfuric acid, lye, hydrochloric acid, and hypophosphorous acid.
       “These chemicals have limited household uses independently, but they are only combined with one another in methamphetamine production,” states the police website. “If you see combinations of these chemicals being used in your neighborhood, you should suspect the possibility of a meth lab being present.”
       “You should also be suspicious of strong chemical odors associated with the process of making meth. It can include strong solvent odors, ammonia odors, or a pungent odor that some have compared to 'smelly sweatsocks.' There are other 'indicators' of the presence of a meth lab to watch for: multiple coffee filters with chemical stains, glass or plastic jars with chemicals separating into layers or containing chemical residue, broken open lithium battery casings, multiple empty containers of gas-line treatment, and multiple empty packages or blister packs from cold and allergy medications.”
       The website continues: “If you suspect the possible presence of a meth lab near you, please contact the Colorado Springs Police Department Metro Vice and Narcotics Division as soon as possible at either 444-7766 or on the narcotics hotline at 444- 3111.”

Westside Pioneer article