MUNCIE, Ind. (March 13, 2015) – It’s the last thing anyone would expect to find. Indiana State Police say they discovered a meth lab inside the bathroom of a Walmart in Muncie. Tools used to cook up the dangerous and highly addictive drug were found in a backpack that was left sitting in the men’s room Thursday night.
The bathroom is still closed and that’s because the drug is so dangerous that any kind of exposure to it could make people very sick.
“It’s just sorry, the state of things anymore,” said Brad Corya. “Neighborhoods and stuff- it’s not safe anywhere.”
The discovery was made in a front bathroom by the cash registers. A Walmart official says an alert worker saw a man in the store with a backpack and that the man had been seen in the store several times before buying stuff related to the meth making process.
That worker told police who were already in the store and cops were trailing the man. The man went in to the bathroom with the backpack, but came out moments later without it. Police looked inside of it and found some of the tools meth cooks use.
“I hope no children were in there. I mean really, I’ve got two young ones myself,” said Dave Stover of Muncie.
State police say this was consistent with the type of meth cooking process known as “shake and bake” or “one pot” meth which is becoming a trend. Of the 148 meth lab busts in Delaware County last year, a majority of them were the “shake and bake or “one pot” kind. Police say this could have been a lot worse because corrosive acid had eaten through the bottom of the backpack and some ended up in the bathroom. So far, there have been no reports of anyone getting sick.
Officials say the ventilation sent the fumes up and out of the store instead of inside the store. A State-approved cleaner needs to come in and get it back to safe condition. In the meantime, police are looking for the man responsible.
