EVANSVILLE— Vanderburgh County once again led the state last year in the number of meth labs discovered, according to data released Friday by the Indiana State Police.
It marks the third time in four years that Vanderburgh County has topped the list and the second time in three years that more than 100 suspected labs were discovered within the county.
Last year’s total of 115 meth labs seized fell just short of the 2011 total when 116 labs were discovered, according to state police records. In 2012, 90 labs were found in Vanderburgh County, which ranked second in the state behind Madison County’s 96 labs. In 2013, only 61 labs were found in Madison County.
Evansville Police Sgt. Jason Cullum noted that the city’s police department have investigators dedicated strictly to the meth issue.
“(The numbers) show that meth is a problem in our community,” Cullum said. “But when you start comparing one county to the next, I think it is safe to say that the counties and the agencies that work harder to find them are going to have higher numbers. I think that’s part of where we lead other communities, we are actively seeking them out more so than other communities.”
Cullum said the police department and Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke will continue to make fighting methamphetamine a top priority.
“It’s easy to get hung up on the number of labs if you just look at it that way, but we feel that it’s important to keep it on the front burner,” Cullum said. “It is still a public safety threat, and we are devoting resources to it that not only addresses it but keeps that number high. It’s kind of a catch-22. We have some very good meth investigators who are very well trained and are very good at what they do.”
Delaware County, the home of Muncie, ranked second on the latest list, also recording triple digits of the number of suspected labs found. Delaware and Vanderburgh counties were the only two in the state that more than 100 labs found last year.
In total, 1,808 labs were reported across the state during 2013 compared to 1,726 last year. Of the labs seized last year, an overwhelming majority — more than 1,500 — were one-pot labs, according to state police.
Locally, none of the surrounding counties registered in the top 10. Gibson County had 14 labs, Posey County 12 and Warrick County 15. Posey and Warrick’s numbers were better compared to 2012. That year, Gibson County had 13 labs found. The 2013 total for Posey County also continued a recent downward trend since 2010 when there were 46 labs in Posey County, which was high enough that year to rank it in the top 10.
Knox County had about half of the number of labs found last year compared to 2012, when 27 labs were discovered within the county.