By Roseann Moring
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
The Pontiac Sunfire swerved off Vinton Street, overcorrected and slammed into Rosalva Reyes' Nissan Maxima as Reyes drove on a curvy stretch near 35th Street.
Reyes checked on her 4-year-old daughter, who was crying about stomach pain from her seat belt. Reyes didn't give the other car much thought, even when its passenger jumped out and took off down a nearby trail.
Later that night, June 5, Reyes learned that police had found a mobile methamphetamine lab inside the red Sunfire. Reyes had never even heard of such a thing.
Not long ago, the concept was foreign to Omaha: a car, driving down the street with a miniature but fully functional — and dangerous — meth lab.
But instances have cropped up lately in the city, said Omaha Police Sgt. Greg Noonan.
A search of public records found three rolling meth labs in Omaha so far this year. Bellevue police found one in December 2008 and another in April, said Bellevue Lt. Keith Bader.
Most meth labs in cars, known as mobile or rolling meth labs, use what's called the one-pot method, Noonan said. The meth maker mixes the ingredients in a small container, such as the Gatorade bottle found by police in the Sunfire that hit Reyes.
After she found out about the meth lab, “I started thinking about everything else that could have happened,” Reyes said. “It could have blown up.”
Police said she's right. Meth labs are famous for exploding, and the pressure buildup in a bottle is especially dangerous.
Left alone, the container will burst and spew toxic material; someone needs to occasionally relieve the pressure by opening the bottle. That's one reason people carry meth labs with them.
Many ingredients in meth are extremely flammable, and a crash or someone smoking in the car could set off an explosion.
In 2008, a mobile meth lab exploded on Interstate 10 in Baton Rouge, La., according to an Associated Press report. Two people were treated for chemical burns.
Authorities here could recall no mobile meth lab explosions.
But, Bader said, “to have it confined in a car is pretty nuts.”
A car isn't necessary to the method, Noonan said, but people probably cart the bottle labs around in order to stay near them to relieve the pressure.
The upside for drug pushers: Such labs are portable and more easily concealed, said Lt. Jim Sklenar of the Omaha Police Department narcotics unit. One catch: One-pot labs make less meth than a home-based lab.
Noonan said Omaha has seen mobile meth labs only recently, although they might have been around earlier.
“Everyone's getting to point where they know what they are and what to look for,” he said.
Police look for a 2-liter bottle with rocks in the bottom for agitation and empty containers of meth materials. They also look for liquid that's a darker color than normal or looks wrong.
“If it's a Coke bottle, it should look like Coca-Cola,” Sklenar said.
Sometimes, officers don't even have to look. In January, Omaha police pulled over then-22-year-old Danielle Vieyra for having fuzzy dice that obstructed her view. When the officer asked whehter she had anything in her car that police should know about, Vieyra admitted to a meth lab in the trunk.
Vierya's lawyer declined to comment, citing a pending trial.
Omaha has seen a small uptick in the mobile labs, Sklenar said, but the number remains too small to be statistically significant. The Sarpy and Douglas County Sheriff's Offices said they have not seen the mobile labs lately.
Noonan said he knew of no reason why the mobile labs have been showing up in Omaha. Bader said Bellevue's mobile lab users may be connected.
But, Sklenar said, even though there's less material in a mobile meth lab, the process is dangerous, “whether you do it in a house or in a car.”
The passenger in the Sunfire that hit Reyes' car and fled was charged with three drug-related felonies; the driver was charged with driving under the influence and three misdemeanors.
Reyes' Maxima was totaled, and she has had to tell her daughter that the woman driving the other car was sick. Sometimes the little girl says, “Mommy, don't wreck. If the car's coming towards you, just move.”
In retrospect, Reyes said, they're lucky to be alive.
Contact the writer:
444-1089,
[email protected]
