Tippecanoe County meth lab discoveries on the rise

West Lafayette Police Sgt. Jonathan Eager said the discovery of more meth labs this year might be a sign that officers are more focused on the problem and have better training on how to track down meth users and manufacturers.

“There’s obviously a meth problem,” said Eager, who currently is a member of the WLPD narcotics team and was formerly assigned to the Drug Task Force. “Indiana is No. 1 (in meth labs discovered) in the nation.”

Between January 1 and April 30, 22 meth labs were discovered in Tippecanoe County, compared to 32 discovered in all of 2014, according to Indiana State Police reports.

In 2014, Tippecanoe County ranked 14th in the state in the number of labs discovered, but so far this year, the county is tied for third place.

By comparison, Delaware County leads the state with 68 labs discovered in the first four months of the year. Last year, Delaware County had 148 meth labs discovered—the most in the state.