PENNSBORO - A state road crew discovered a methamphetamine lab in Ritchie County Tuesday morning near Pennsboro.
A crew flagging traffic stumbled onto the "shake-and-bake" mobile meth lab while working along the road on Ritchie County 160/10 near Pennsboro. A flagger noticed the bag along the side of the road, said Carrie Bly, a spokesperson for the West Virginia Department of Transportation.
"They decided to go over and see what it was. They opened it up and found all these items there," Bly said. "It was a shake-and-bake meth lab."
Article Photos
Photo courtesy West Virginia Department of Transportation
West Virginia State Police Trooper C.T. Speece of the Ritchie County Detachment examines a mobile “shake-and-bake” meth lab discovered along the side of a road in a bag identified by a Department of Transportation flagger.
"They knew right off the bat and called the state police, who came out," Bly said.
Bly said, according to state police who responded, all the ingredients were present and the lab was ready to go.
"It was unclear if somebody was stashing it there and coming back to pick it up. It was ready to be an active, mobile meth lab," she said. "It's not waste."
Bly posted pictures and descriptions on the Department of Highways' Facebook page. Many will wonder why crews were able to recognize the meth lab, but Bly said it's because of the department's hazardous materials training.
"Road workers and garbage men have run into materials before and it has been added to their training," Bly said. "We are just glad they paid attention."
Troopers from the Ritchie County Detachment of the state police are investigating. Trooper C.T. Speece said law enforcement has a couple of possible suspects.
"There were some items that may lead us to the actual person," he said.
