Burns traffic stop finds meth lab in truck
Two Arkansas residents were arrested Saturday after a traffic stop on Highway 20 at the west end of Burns turned up a small, dismantled methamphetamine lab in a commercial truck, Oregon State Police said Sunday. A hazardous materials team was called in to dispose of the lab.
According to OSP Sgt, Dan Conner, around noon Saturday, Hines police and Harney County sheriff’s deputies stopped a 2002 Freightliner truck pulling a flatbed trailer westbound on Highway 20 near milepost 129 following a complaint of reckless driving and hit-and-run.
Conner said the driver was identified as Steven Allen Smith, 46, and passenger Bridget Renee Golding, 39, both from Jacksonville, Arkansas.
Police arrested Smith on a DUII-drugs charge and and found a boxed small, dismantled methamphetamine lab in the truck
Police contacted OSP Drug Enforcement Section and a team of detectives were dispatched from Salem, Portland, and Bend to assist with the investigation.
At the request of local police, the OSP drug agents sent members from the statewide Clandestine Lab Response Team to assist with the investigation and coordinate removal of lab items.
The truck and trailer were towed to a secured lot. A search warrant was obtained and executed on the vehicle Sunday morning, at which time OSP detectives seized the evidence and a small amount of methamphetamine. The dismantled lab was turned over to a haz-mat team contacted by DEQ to respond for disposal.
Both suspects were lodged in the Harney County Jail on drug possession and manufacture charges.
