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Makings of a meth lab found on Orange County dairy farm

Authorities raid Orange farm, break up what they call meth lab

Date published: 5/17/2007

BY ROBIN KNEPPER

Law-enforcement agencies have broken up what they say was an incipient meth lab in a genteel section of rural Orange County.

According to sheriff's Lt. Col. Mark Amos, paraphernalia suited to operating a laboratory to produce the illegal narcotic methamphetamine was seized at Rhodesland Plantation in the Somerset area.

The laboratory had not been completed, Amos said, and "a cook hadn't been conducted yet."

The Sheriff's Office was joined early yesterday morning by the Virginia State Police, the Blue Ridge Narcotics Task Force and the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency to execute a search warrant on the residences and outbuildings at the large dairy farm owned by Dusty Rhodes.

Rhodes does not live on the farm, which Amos said is operated by his two sons.

No arrests were made.

Law-enforcement personnel seized quantities of the over-the-counter cold medicine Sudafed. It contains pseudoephedrine, the key ingredient in the manufacture of meth.

They also seized anhydrous ammonia and propane tanks used to transport the ammonia.

"None of these are illegal ingredients," Amos said. But the combination in large quantities, along with the information received from an informant, led to the search warrants, he said.

The DEA response team wore protective suits and respiratory equipment to seize the chemicals, which are highly volatile. They later contacted a company in West Virginia to dispose of them, Amos said.

The Orange County Emergency Services Department and the Barboursville Fire Company were also on hand, but there were no accidents in handling the chemicals.

The Orange County Sheriff's Office, in conjunction with the Blue Ridge Narcotics Task Force, will continue the investigation.

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Date published: 5/17/2007