A Knight in Dragonland

Mar 11 2008

Home Meth Lab Found 1/4 Mile From School Grounds

Some upstanding citizens had a fire in their home meth lab on Saturday. Said fire resulted in this lovely little production facility being shut down and fortunately did not result in any deaths or injuries.

There were 4 adults living in the home along with 15-year old boy and a 1-year old girl. Angela Peak, grandmother of the 1-year old, was arrested. Two male residents of the home, Phillip Nischwitz and Mark A. Turner, are wanted for questioning by the police but have not been charged in this case. Nischwitz apparently fled the scene before the fire department and police arrived (things that make you go hmmmmm). The Times has a lovely picture of him on the front page of today’s paper … from the looks of it, a mug shot from a prior encounter with law enforcement.

The fire and subsequent meth lab bust occurred at 1500 Fenley … about a quarter mile east from the grounds of Edison Junior High and C.B. Smith Primary School and a quarter mile west of the grounds of L.E. Starke Primary School.Â From the map it looks like the residence is about 500 feet outside the 1000-foot perimeter that could result in additional charges being filed for dealing drugs near a school.

Ugh. That’s about all I can say.

Pekin, War on Drugs | Knight in Dragonland | 11 March 2008 |

6 Comments

By East Bluff Barbie, March 12, 2008 @ 1:01 pm

A few years ago my friend, who lived in Pekin, discovered a mobile meth lab outside her house in an SUV. She left and wouldn’t return until the police assured her that it was gone. She was afraid it would blow and take half the neighborhood with it.
By NewsAnchorMom, March 12, 2008 @ 3:49 pm

Meth labs anywhere are a problem. I know we did a special on how meth labs are extremely hard to clean up. You could be living in a home that once housed a meth lab and not know it. That’s pretty scary.
By Brian A. Graham, March 13, 2008 @ 10:19 am

Operation Rattlesnake was a success, but then there was an absence of political will to keep vigilance. It is going to take money and manpower to keep this problem at bay.

Secondly, there needs to be a focus on the underlying socio-economic causes of the meth epidemic, namely Pekin has 48% of its children living at or near the poverty line. Meth use and production is predominately a problem in poorer locales. Until everyone gets serious about the problem and its causes, we will deal with this problem repeatedly.
By Michael Legel, March 15, 2008 @ 4:30 am

Prohibition doesn’t work well. In some cases, for instance those involving children, it is the only way. There is no alternative to prohibition when it comes to child labor laws, pedophilia, etc. When it comes to substance abuse it really doesn’t work. At all. Our prisons are full and people are still blowing up buildings and vehicles with illegal meth labs. I don’t care what other people do to mess up their lives … but I do care if they blow up my neighborhood. If we really want to address the real social problems of this abuse we would legalize and remove the black market. We can argue how to police the abusers but the manufacture and distribution problems would be solved. We still can’t seem to come to terms with alcohol abuse so it may be a while with other drugs as well. Myself … I don’t understand why bars have parking lots.
By mortonmalaise, March 17, 2008 @ 10:39 am

Michael,
I whole-heartedly agree. Next to the colonization of Iraq, the War on Drugs is the US’s biggest waste of money and other resources. Legalize it, regulate it, tax it. If people want to destroy their lives, let them do it legally. The government could make a whole lot of money off tax revenue. I know someone is going to say, “Well, it’s not just their lives being ruined.” Well, gambling, drinking, and credit cards are legal, and we all know how many lives have been ruined by those vices.