Meth lab busted in Soap Lake

SOAP LAKE — Authorities have apprehended one man after finding a methamphetamine lab and two propane tanks filled with anhydrous ammonia on his mother's property.

Members of the Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team searched the property at approximately 1 p.m. Wednesday, after receiving information that an anhydrous ammonia tank was buried in the ground beneath a shed.

Larry Lamar Dana, 46, was present during the search, and was later arrested and booked into the Grant County Jail. Dana has a previous criminal history, according to investigators.

The property at 19415 Division Road North belongs to Dana's mother, according to Sgt. Mike Shay with the Grant County Sheriff's Office. Shay said Dana's mother is an innocent part of the investigation and was not aware of the drug activity on the property. Shay said Dana's mother was cooperative with investigators.

Investigators found one 10-gallon propane tank and one five-gallon propane tank filled with anhydrous ammonia in one building on the property. Shay said one of the two tanks had been buried in the ground. Investigators also found a methamphetamine lab in another building on the property.

Shay said the only way for Dana to get the anhydrous ammonia was to steal it, and said this anhydrous ammonia was believed to have been stolen from the Coulee City area.

The anhydrous ammonia is used to make what Shay called "Nazi Meth" and the found methamphetamine lab could make about one ounce of methamphetamine at a time.

"You can make one batch an hour if you know what you're doing," Shay said of Nazi Meth.

This was the first of two methamphetamine labs busted this year in Grant County, Shay said. He said his office assisted the Washington State Patrol in another methamphetamine lab Thursday when officers discovered the lab in the trunk of a car during a regular traffic stop. Further details were not immediately known.

"It's still around," Shay said, "It's still a problem."

Dana was booked into the Grant County Jail on charges of manufacturing methamphetamine, possession of anhydrous ammonia and child endangerment.

Shay said the charges of child endangerment stem from exposing a 16-year-old girl and 17-year-old boy to the drug activity.

Investigators still have to complete some fingerprint work, and Shay said more charges could come from the bust.

Officers from the Soap Lake Police Department, Ephrata Police Department and members of Grant County Fire District No. 7 assisted INET in Wednesday's search.