MOTELS' UNWELCOME GUESTS: METH LABS

'Cooks' Brew Trouble In Rooms

EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Reed Skelton was kicking back in his hotel room last
year, sipping beer and watching TV, when the methamphetamine he was brewing
exploded in the bathroom.

The flash fire blew out his room window and severely injured him. In the
chaos that followed, 156 guests were evacuated from the Baymont Inn. And the
hotel's fire sprinklers went off, contributing to about $120,000 in damage,
said police Sgt. Mike Lauderdale.

As the number of meth labs has spread in recent years into Midwest states
such as Indiana and Kentucky, they are being found more in hotel rooms --
perfect for "meth cooks" on the go.

They are found not just in seedy motels, but in chain hotels that cater to
businesspeople and vacationers. Those include the Baymont Inn, in a newly
developed area on Evansville's west side.

"I'm surprised more people haven't gotten blown up or burned by these
things," said Spencer County Sheriff Sheldon Tharp, who has found at least
two meth labs in motels in his rural southern Indiana county this year.

The "cooks" often get a room with stolen identification or pay someone drugs
or cash to use their ID, said Armand McClintock, who oversees the
Indianapolis office of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

Inside, the fumes from the cooking meth -- made mostly with household
cleaners such as drain cleaner -- can be lethal.

And for every pound of drug made, there's typically five pounds of hazardous
waste, McClintock said. The cooks usually pour it down the sink or toilet.

A Doberman pinscher met Spencer County Detective Jeff Meredith when he
responded to a call in February at the Scottish Inn north of Dale, 70 miles
west of Louisville off Interstate 64.

A man on the bed had a sawed-off shotgun at his feet. A handgun was found
under his mattress, and a rifle was leaning against the heater, Meredith
said. There were no shootings.

"They had more firepower than we had," Tharp said.

General Manager Brad Meyers said the motel, now called the 231 Ambest Plaza
Motel, is no longer having problems with meth cooks. He said the staff is
more diligent in looking for signs of meth cooking and is reporting
suspicious behavior.

One sign is the smell of anhydrous ammonia, commonly used to make the drug.
Another is broken light bulbs, which are used to hold materials being mixed.

They also examine whether local people are frequenting the motel, he said.
"That's something that immediately raises eyebrows," Meyers said.

Lauderdale, who's with the Evansville Vanderburgh Joint Narcotics Task
Force, said last year's explosion at the Baymont could have been much worse
had the fire hit several jars of flammable liquid in the room. "It would've
taken out the back side of the motel," he said.

Reed, 24, was hospitalized with severe burns. He pleaded guilty to
meth-related charges stemming from the explosion. In January he was
sentenced to seven years in prison followed by three years in drug
treatment.

Nationwide, out of the 10,305 meth labs reported to the DEA last year, 309
were in hotel or motel rooms, according to the DEA's El Paso Intelligence
Center.

The Kentucky Hotel and Lodging Association had the Kentucky State Police
speak at an annual meeting on the same topic. Last year, 10 labs were found
in Kentucky hotel or motel rooms, according to the Kentucky State Police.