Troopers find meth lab in semi
Friday, March 31, 2006 6:37 AM PST
By Amy M. E. Fischer
Printable version
E-mail this articleState troopers who pulled over a semi-truck hauling a flatbed of military Humvees to Fort Lewis found some unexpected cargo in the driver's sleeper berth --- a small methamphetamine lab.
At about 8 a.m. Wednesday, Washington State Patrol troopers stopped the big rig for illegally driving in the far left lane on Interstate 5 near Kelso, according to a WSP press release. The Department of Defense had contracted with Precision Heavy Haul to transport the three Humvees to the military base in northwestern Washington, WSP troopers said.
Dispatch informed them that the driver, 55-year-old Daniel L. Boquet of Missouri, had an outstanding felony warrant for drug crimes. Officers arrested Boquet and searched the truck cab, where they allegedly found a bag of powdered ephedrine and other ingredients to make meth, plus butane bottles and fuel cans.
"Once we found the lab, or what appeared to be the lab, that was it. We got out," said WSP Trooper J.L. Wabel. The investigation was turned over to the Cowlitz County Drug Task Force.
Boquet, who is being held at the Cowlitz County jail on $150,000 bail, told officers he didn't want to leave the meth lab equipment at home, so he put it in his truck, Wabel said. He also told them, "I don't really know how to make the stuff," Wabel said.
Although it's not unusual to find meth manufacturing setups in cars, neither he nor the other officers had heard of one in a semi-truck, Wabel said Thursday.
"Generally speaking, truck drivers are more responsible citizens," Wabel theorized. "They have a job, and quite often the vehicle doesn't belong to them."
Because Boquet's employer, Kansas-based Precision Heavy Haul Inc., owns the truck, the company must pay for the meth lab cleanup, Wabel said.
"They were shocked," he said.
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