Police Find Dozens Of Handguns, Rifles home

Josey1

Police Find Dozens Of Handguns, Rifles In Filthy Home
What began as an investigation into a house of filth in Southwest Ranches uncovered much more than trash, according to police.

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Officers arrived at the home along the 6400 block of Southwest 185th Way Tuesday evening.

At first, police say they only found a few dogs and birds along with piles of trash.

After a more thorough search, police discovered 22 rifles, 40 handguns, and 30,000 rounds of ammunition.

Police say the father and son who live in the house, 87-year-old Arnold Goodman and 35-year-old Maurice Goodman are mentally unstable.

They took them into custody under the Baker Act. They have been taken to the hospital for mental evaluation.

A bomb squad is also expected to go through the home later today.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/wplg/20020529/lo/1209438_1.html



"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878

Josey1

Police seize 50 guns in raid

Greene County search of vehicles also reveals signs of illegal drug lab, Indiana State Police say

By Paula Freund,
Herald-Times Staff Writer
LINTON - The Indiana State Police seized 50 guns worth thousands of dollars this week in connection with an ongoing investigation involving the illegal drug methcathinone, or "cat."





Troopers with the Bloomington post's Meth Task Force discovered the weapons while executing a search warrant Tuesday on seven impounded vehicles, said state police Sgt. J.D. Maxwell.

In addition to finding 13 handguns and 37 long guns in three of the vehicles, the troopers found several large glass jars - telltale remnants of a methcathinone lab, Maxwell said.

The older-model cars were taken into custody and towed to a Linton wrecker company within the last two weeks as part of a narcotics investigation that began as a result of anonymous tips about possible drug- and gun-related activity in Greene County, said Indiana State Police public information officer Jackie Taylor.

Officials said they had suspects in the recovery of the weapons, a quarter of which were reportedly loaded. A large amount of ammunition was also taken into custody, Maxwell said.

The long guns included double-barreled shotguns, sawed-off shotguns and assault rifles. Police found one handgun that had been reported stolen.

"That's a great haul," Maxwell said. "This took a lot of guns off the street. This is all drug-related, no doubt."

Methcathinone, or "cat," is easily made from a brew of battery acid, drain cleaner and over-the-counter cold remedies containing the decongestant ephedrine.

Its effects are similar to the addictive stimulant methamphetamine. Both produce a feeling of euphoria, stimulate the heart rate and increase alertness and body temperature.

But "cat" is even cheaper and easier to make.

"It's big everywhere because of the cost," Maxwell said. "It's so cheap to make and you can get the ingredients anywhere."

Methcathinone has been popping up around the region in recent years, particularly in small labs across Greene County, he said. The county's rural areas are ideal for cooking up the potent drug undetected.

Police are more frequently coming across "rolling 'cat' labs," what they call vehicles used to transport the chemicals and materials - tubing, glass jars, plastic funnels and wooden spoons - required to make the drug.

"It's an elaborate system, but it's easy to do," Maxwell said. "It's just like baking a cake - it's a recipe. As long as they go by it, they can make it."

They're also finding many users cooking the drug for personal use, Taylor said.

"It's not necessarily something people are making to sell," Taylor said. "That's why there are so many of them popping up."

They attribute the rise in rolling labs to users' growing awareness of the danger of the highly volatile chemicals used to make the drug. Explosions are not uncommon, Maxwell said.

"They don't want to put their kids in jeopardy," Maxwell said. "They're also trying to cook in remote areas, where cops won't come by or other people would smell it."

Users will put the jars in the trunk, floorboard, and even the back seat of cars. Many of the chemicals - such as the lithium strips taken from AA batteries - need to soak before the "cooking" process can begin.

But having a lab in a mobile vehicle does not guarantee safety from police.

Gosport resident Samantha Carter, 21, was arrested in Bloomington Monday when police said they found an illegal methcathinone lab in her car parked at a residence in the 800 block of East Miller Drive in Bloomington.

A detective initially went to the home after receiving information of possible drug activity there and found that the license plate on the brown 1989 Dodge Shadow parked outside was not registered to that vehicle, said Bloomington police Capt. Joe Qualters. When police inventoried the vehicle to be towed, they found evidence of a "cat" lab, he said.

"There were substances found to be consistent with chemical reagents and precursors to the manufacture of methcathinone," Qualters said.

Carter is charged with possessing methcathinone ingredients and possession of stolen property. She was being held at the Monroe County Jail in lieu of $10,000 surety and $500 cash bond.

Methcathinone first appeared about 10 years ago in Indiana, with much of the local activity being centered in Monroe and Lawrence counties, Maxwell said. Since then, the state police's Clandestine Laboratory Emergency Response Team has dismantled about 25 hidden labs in south-central Indiana.

Chronic use of "cat" can lead to paranoia, malnutrition, high blood pressure, depression, hallucinations and even death. But despite the drug's risks, it continues to grow in popularity.

"It's nasty," Maxwell said. "A lot of young kids are getting hooked on it. We've got to put a stop to it."

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms was expected to assist in the weapons investigation - the largest police seizure of guns in Greene County that Maxwell could remember. It was the second-largest seizure the Bloomington post of the Indiana State Police has been involved with in the past 10 years, he said.

Reporter Paula Freund can be reached at 331-4370 or by e-mail at pfreund@heraldt.com. http://www.hoosiertimes.com/stories/2002/05/30/news.020530_HT_A1_PJR18928.sto





"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878

n4thethrill

that's the libral pappers for you there could have been three baseball bats covered in blood and a 22 short pistol and the bats would hardly have been mentioned. i would just like to point out that Cain killed Able way before there was a gun... just my 2 cents

you can be king or street sweeper but everyone is going to dance with the reaper

96harley

Boohoomington, Indiana
The liberal mecca of the world. You can bet anything the media reports there is going to be fair and impartial. The common decent conservative folk down there don't stand a chance. When school's in their conservative views are tossed out the window.

Guns off the street! They were already off the street. Here we go again brainwashing by mixing the terms gun and drugs in the same headline, byline, or story. Hogwash! I believe in knocking off the dopers but let's leave the tiger's teeth (guns)out of the same sentence please.


"Join the Baby Fur Seal Club and take a swing at life."

leeblackman

All those poor guns, I hope they don't destroy them, I hope they find them loving homes.

If I'm wrong please correct me, I won't be offended.

The sound of a 12 gauge pump clears a house fatser than Rosie O eats a Big Mac !