11.45am
A potentially explosive drug lab has been discovered in suburban Tauranga, raising fears for the safety of people who live nearby.
Drug squad detectives found the clandestine methamphetamine, or speed, laboratory set up inside a cottage beside State Highway 2 in the suburb of Bethlehem on Friday.
A specialist police team was
brought in from Auckland to remove and assess the equipment found.
It did not appear anyone was living in the house and no arrests had been made by early today.
The speed lab is the third uncovered by police in the Western Bay of Plenty this year.
Police were increasingly concerned at the number of labs they were finding in built-up areas because of the danger to nearby residents and passing traffic.
The chemicals used to manufacture the drug are volatile and can cause a large explosion.
Drug squad head Detective Sergeant Lew Warner said an explosion was always a possibility.
"History in the United States shows that not only do law enforcement agencies get hurt, but so do the people who manufacture the stuff. Sometimes it can take out a whole block," he said.
Tauranga police stumbled over the laboratory in Bethlehem on Friday while raiding the house on a drugs warrant.
Curtained and taped up windows led them to believe that the rented cottage only a few houses down from the Bethlehem shops might be being used to grow cannabis.
But once they got inside, they discovered all the equipment and corrosive chemicals needed to make methamphetamine. The strong smell also raised alarm bells. A specialist lab cleanup team was called in.
"We just get straight out," Mr Warner said. "I'm not even allowed at the scene."
The Auckland-based team, including two scientists, arrived on Saturday and spent several hours dismantling the operation and collecting forensic evidence.
The chemicals used had contaminated everything from carpet and curtains to wallpaper.
Inquiries were today continuing in an effort to find the person or group responsible for setting up the laboratory.
The Government has announced it will spend $6.6m over four years on both the Auckland clean-up team and another which will be based in Wellington.
Police Minister George Hawkins said it was in recognition of the fact that clandestine labs posed a significant safety risk to the public.
From March 2002 to March 2003 there were 140 methamphetamine labs shut down nationwide.
- BAY OF PLENTY TIMES
