Officials Search Vehicle Suspected of Containing Meth Ingredients

Update: 8:30 p.m.

Field tests have confirmed materials found inside of a pickup truck pulled over during a routine traffic stop at the Oconee Plaza shopping center Thursday afternoon were part of a methamphetamine lab, Chief Deputy Lee Weems said.

The materials have been packaged and there is a long procedure to follow in order to properly dispose of them, he said.

A suspect has been taken into custody, but authorities are not releasing his identity at this time, Weems said.

Firefighters and personnel, the National Ambulance Service, the DEA, and an Athens-Clarke Hazardous Materials Team assisted the

Original:

Law enforcement officials are investigating a pickup truck parked in the off Hog Mountain Road Thursday afternoon that is suspected of containing ingredients for methamphetamines.

Sheriff's officials cordoned off the area near the store and called in hazardous materials units to help clear the area because the chemicals involved are toxic.

"If it is in fact what we believe it to be, we've got to call a crew in from Atlanta to clean it up," said Scott Berry. "We'll be here for hours."

Berry said a Sheriff's deputy had stopped the vehicle for an expired tag and observed what he believed to be chemicals used for making methamphetamines. The driver was being held in an "undisclosed location" while the vehicle is searched, Berry said.

Berry did not go into detail about the materials found but said it was the right combination of the right kinds of chemicals to lead to the suspicion of methamphetamine production.