Columbia Basin Herald Online Newspaper

Local News - Moses Lake, WA - Grant County

Meth lab busted near Moses Lake

Posted: Friday, May 18, 2007 - 02:01:25 pm PDT
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By Candice Boutilier
Herald staff writer 

MOSES LAKE -- The Grant County Sheriff's Office discovered a methamphetamine lab on Road 5 Northeast near Moses Lake this morning.

"They found it was an active meth lab," Chief Criminal Deputy John Turley said. "There were young children there."

The sheriff's deputies conducted a "knock and talk" after citizens notified there was a lot of activity in the area at about 2 a.m. this morning, he said.

Deputies arriving on the scene smelled an active methamphetamine lab. An active lab often smells like cat urine, according to Turley.

Four people were located inside a travel trailer at the location, a man and a woman and two children. There is another house located near the trailer. It is unclear which location the people lived in.

Ricky D. Walker Jr., 27 and Gina K. Thorne, 27, were each arrested for manufacturing methamphetamine.

Further charges are pending, Sgt. Dan Couture said.

Two children, a 6 year-old-boy and 3-year-old, were turned over to Child Protective Services, Couture said.

The children do not belong to either Walker or Thorne. An investigation was launched to locate the parents, he added. The parents of the removed children resided at the location on and off and at any given time there were two to 10 people who lived there, he said.

Due to the close vicinity to the drug operation, they will sustain a health evaluation, he said. Any health problems the children may have endured may not show up immediately.

Several household chemicals and items were confiscated from the location as part of the methamphertamine cooking operation, including hydrochloric acid, car cleaner and coffee filters.

There were enough supplies to produce about 1.5 ounces of methamphetamine, worth roughly $900, Couture said.

Previous to today's arrest, Walker has an extensive criminal history including possession of drug paraphernalia, theft and burglary charges, Turley said.

The "meth lab" location is a well-known area for criminal activity.

Several years ago, the spot was known as the Royal Rooster, he said. Several shootouts took place in the area before a large portion of it burned down.

"It has a lengthy history," he added.

A few days before the bust, Grant County Fire District No. 5 was called out to the residence to extinguish a garbage fire, Couture said. People who lived there threw their trash outside the house into the back yard and lit it on fire regularly. Several hundred pounds of burned garbage sits outside the house.

The Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team (INET) and the Clandestine Laboratory Team assisted with the investigation.

The lab incident remains under investigation.


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Vickie Scoyni wrote on May 8, 2008 9:47 AM:

" Wow ! "

jim wrote on May 21, 2007 2:47 PM:

" I think a lot of people are missing the point. The reason there are so many meth labs being found is that Meth is so addictive and so expensive that people are forced to make it themselves. These are the people that need help! In my opinion this bust was small. You found a group of users and made it a state wide case, "Look what we can do." What needs to be done is the people that are out there making it to sell found and made an example of. Throwing these ma & pa people in jail is not solving the problem. Finding the pushers is!!!! "

Nicholas Scoyni wrote on May 20, 2007 7:50 PM:

" I wrote a novel in 2003 about this place you busted and it's real name is the Red Roster and yes Ricky is in my book as a Meth Cook but we call it the Jungle out there not the Red Roster that was the old bar . the Cops call it the Royal Roster because it was called that in my book I wrote and if they looked at the rest of the book they mite have the rest of the labs !! "

Nicholas D Scoyni wrote on May 20, 2007 7:49 PM:

" I wrote a novel in 2003 about this place you busted and it's real name is the Red Roster and yes Ricky is in my book as a Meth Cook but we call it the Jungle out there not the Red Roster that was the old bar . the Cops call it the Royal Roster because it was called that in my book I wrote and if they looked at the rest of the book they mite have the rest of the labs !! "

Me wrote on May 19, 2007 9:44 PM:

" Getting busted in a meth lab isn't enough to get people to stop using meth. Meth is so addictive that people have no choice but to use it. That's right, it isn't a choice anymore, it's a need. The only way around it is with proper counseling and a specific recovery plan that is unique to the individual. Prison is not the answer for addiction. Love and understanding is. Empathy is. These people are not using drugs because they want to, it is to cover up the pain they feel on the inside. If we want to help we need to develop treatment programs that actually work and that are not just thrown together to say that we have something. Time, energy, and of course money need to be the contributig factors. One would ask, "Is it worth it" I would say, "YES!" "

Max wrote on May 19, 2007 12:45 PM:

" That area has been a problem for years. The entire area should be razed to the ground and bulldozed under. "

DOes My Name Matter wrote on May 19, 2007 12:23 PM:

" This is getting out of control, what am i sayin, it has been out of control for WAY TO LONG. Meth is so easily made and uptained that it has pretty much taken over the state of hawaii, and every state in the US has problems with Meth. What do we have to do to get this back under control. There are so many people you ALREADY know who are Meth addicts. You only hear about the "bad" ones the drop outs, the jobless, the homeless... but Meth is a constant addiction.. needing to get high multiple times a day. People who have jobs also are using and using it often. So then do we find ourselvestrusting meth heads with our kids, meth heads cooking our food, meth heads who are supposed to be protecting and serving the community...... the answer is, Yes! This is a real problem it isnt a WHITE problem it isnt a BLACK problem or a Mexican problem.... ONE NATION UNDER GOD... SO LETS UNITE and STOP THIS MADNESS! "