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Last updated on Wednesday, September 17, 2014
(MITCHELL) - A Mitchell couple was arrested for organizing meth-making operations at their home.
Lawrence County Police arrested 32-year-old Christine Blackburn and 37-year-old James Blackburn on a warrant for aiding, inducing or causing dealing in meth, neglect of a dependent, possession of meth, and maintaining a common nuisance.
James Blackburn is also facing a charge of unlawful sale of a precursor.
According to a probable cause affidavit, around July 17, officers watched people purchase meth precursors at Walmart.
A male tried to buy pseudoephedrine, but his ID did not meet Walmart's requirements. He then met another male and two women at the store, one being Christine Blackburn.
One of the men bought sulfuric acid, and the four left the store and went to CVS/pharmacy.
There one of the men bought some cold medicine, but the other man returned it after discovering it did not contain pseudoephedrine.
The four then went across the street to Walgreens and purchased pseudoephedrine.
All four then got into a vehicle, that was driven by Christine Blackburn. According to police, Christine has a suspended driver's license and was wanted on a warrant.
Police stopped the vehicle.
During that traffic stop, one of the men told police Christine that the other man in the vehicle gave him money to make the pseudoephedrine. Officers recovered the sulfuric acid and pseudoephedrine from the vehicle.
The other man then told police he bought the sulfuric acid for someone else who was going to make meth with James Blackburn at the Blackburns' home in the 1300 block of Lawrenceport Main. He told police the men had made meth at the house a few days before being stopped.
The man told police he was to receive a fourth of a gram of meth for purchasing the sulfuric acid.
Officers armed with a consent to search affidavit then went to the Blackburns' home.
There they found several items used to make a one-pot meth lab, one-pot reaction pots, metal ammo cans, Roebic drain cleaner which contained sodium hydroxide, empty instant cold packs that contain ammonium nitrate, 26 ounces of salt, lithium batteries, two glass plates that field-tested positive for meth, digital scales and coffee filters.
James Blackburn told police he threw a grinder into a well behind the home, and the grinder was used to grind pseudoephedrine.
He told police another person had made the meth at an abandoned home next to his.
He also admitted that both he and his wife were meth users and that the drug had been made in the house while the couple's children slept.
He also confessed that they purchased the items to make more meth.
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