Tuesday June 16, 2009
The rash of meth lab busts in Elkhart County of late stems from aggressive law enforcement and a higher quantity of manufacturers of the drug to start with, Sheriff Mike Books suspects.
Speaking to the Elkhart County Council on Saturday, he singled out the efforts of the special covert county task force that’s been behind many of the arrests of those trafficking the drug. That, he continued, forces locals to make their own, hence all the recent discoveries of small labs.
In that vein, a couple other county officials, touching on the meth issue at last Thursday’s meeting of the council’s Finance Committee, wryly noted the oft-cited entrepreneurial spirit here in Elkhart County.
“I guess we like to make stuff here and that includes meth,” said Mike Yoder, a county commissioner.
County Auditor Dave Hess noted the history of pharmaceutical manufacturers here, like Bayer. The meth producers are “just carrying on a tradition,” he said.
It should go without saying that both Yoder and Hess were speaking tongue in cheek. And though I haven’t asked them, I suspect that neither condones illicit drug production.
Contact me at tvandenack@etruth.com.