According to police, a 34-year-old man from Portage, Michigan, has been charged with operating a meth lab and possession of meth with the intent to deliver. He was taken to the Kalamazoo County Jail where he was being held pending further developments in the case.
After receiving tips from citizens that the man was manufacturing and dealing meth, police obtained a search warrant to search his home. In his home they found psychedelic mushrooms, meth, scales and what they deemed to be evidence of a meth lab. If convicted for manufacturing meth, the man could face up to 20 years in prison.
Meth is not very difficult to manufacture and requires household items such as lithium batteries, a wooden spoon, tubing, ephedrine and some other chemicals. Grocery stores and drug stores often keep records of who is buying chemicals used to manufacture meth, especially in rural counties.
If the man decides to fight his charges, he may challenge the sufficiency of the search warrant obtained by the police. In order for a search warrant to be sufficient, the police must convince a judge that they had probable cause to believe that a crime was occurring in his home. It is possible that the anonymous tips might not have been sufficient grounds for probable cause.
Manufacturing meth is a crime that is taken very seriously in Michigan. In fact, convictions on such charges can lead to a 20-year felony sentence. Police in Southwest Michigan are always on the lookout for suspicious behavior including potential meth lab activity, so anyone charged with such a crime had better be prepared with a strong defense.
Source: mLive.com, “Meth, psychedelic mushrooms seized during drug bust in Portage, police say,” Rex Hall Jr., May 25, 2012
