Three suspected
of operating ‘meth’
lab in Lanikai

Pharmacies told police
of ingredient purchases

By Jaymes K. Song
Star-Bulletin

State narcotics agents have arrested three men and closed down a suspected drug lab in a Lanikai home, officers said today.

Three Windward Oahu men, ages 19, 26, and 40 face charges of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, said Ed Howard, supervising investigator for the state narcotics agency.

Police and narcotics officers were tipped to the lab by pharmacies that reported large purchases of psuedoephedrine, a common cold medicine sometimes used in the manufacture of methamphetamine.

Some 211 pharmacies across the state participate in the voluntary reporting program, letting law enforcement officials know about heavy purchases of cold medicines.

Howard said one of the men also faces possible burglary charges, because agents recovered chemicals stolen from a chemistry classroom at Kalaheo High School.

The stolen chemicals were not used to manufacture drugs, Howard said.

Agents found the lab, which they said operated out of the home of one of the men, on Aug. 26. Howard said investigators also found materials for a smaller lab in the back of a car.