2013 METH LAB BUSTS
A Jan. 14 meth lab bust by Lee County and Sanford drug agents at the Palomino Motel on U.S. 1 in Sanford broke a pretty good streak for Lee County.
According to numbers from the State Bureau of Investigation, Lee County had gone three consecutive full calendar years without a meth lab bust — the only county in the Triangle Region that could boast such a claim. Lee County had two reported meth lab busts in 2010, according to the SBI.
The Jan. 14 bust led to the arrests of a man and a woman, both in their 30s. The SBI assisted with the investigation and provided a specialized chemist, cleanup and hazardous material removal teams.
Lee County’s relative lack of meth labs is somewhat of an anomaly in the region, considering the activity of its neighboring counties and state trends. Between 2011 and 2013, neighbor Harnett County had 28 meth lab busts. Wilkes County, located in the northwestern part of the state, had a whopping 128 meth lab busts in that same time frame.
And statewide, the number of busts continues to trend upward.
