Local authorities arrested two men early Sunday after they reportedly had two methamphetamine labs in their car.
At about 12:40 a.m. Sunday near 4030 SW 13th St., Alachua County Sheriff’s Office deputies stopped a car, driven by Roy McCoy Cone, 42, for having its left brake light out, according to a police report.
While the deputies searched the car, they noticed a straw with a white substance, later identified as meth, in the driver’s side sun visor. The deputies then found a Mountain Dew bottle with particles and liquid behind the passenger seat, in front of Timothy Ford, 35. Officers believed the bottle to be a “one-pot meth lab,” according to the report.
The Gainesville Alachua County Drug Task Force, made up of both city and county officers, was called to assist the deputies, according to the report. The bottle was found to have 25.3 grams of liquid meth.
Authorities then found a second one-pot meth lab in a bag in the car’s trunk, according to the report. While the bag did not contain meth, the trunk held items, including lithium batteries, a pipe cutter and a package of coffee filters, which officers said are commonly used to make meth.
Ford told authorities he did not know what was going on, but when asked, said he had bought Sudafed one to two weeks ago. Officers said Sudafed is a common precursor ingredient to making meth, according to the report.
When authorities searched Ford, they found 15 receipts for items, including Publix coffee filters, lithium AA batteries and Mountain Dew bottles, which officers said are all commonly used to make meth, according to the report.
Police arrested both men on charges of possession of drug equipment and possession of a controlled substance. Ford had an additional charge of trafficking more than 14 grams of meth. Officers took both men to the Alachua County Jail where Cone remained as of press time in lieu of a $7,000 bond, and Ford remained in lieu of a $22,000 bond.
[A version of this story ran on page 8 on 4/21/2015]
