SWAT team leads Muncie meth bust
MUNCIE, Ind. (WISH) – Delaware County detectives say they have made two meth busts at the same property this year, and both times they arrested the same person.
Detectives said they believe Jason Smith, 37, was cooking meth as recently as Thursday morning inside a Muncie home near 16th Street and Hoyt Avenue.
In Jan., detectives said another one of Smith’s meth labs started a fire at the same home. He bonded out of jail and health workers condemned the home.
Thursday, Smith was put back behind bars after a SWAT team raided the property.
“If you talk to family members, they’ll tell you he has a serious problem with the use of meth, and I think that’s what fueling his wanting to cook it and wanting to sell it,” Delaware County Sheriff Ray Dudley said.
After Smith’s arrest, state police said they entered the home with hazmat suits and came out with boxes of hazardous chemicals. They found plastic bottles, lighter fluid and sodium hydroxide among other items.
Two doors down, Rich Rainey said he’s sick of the neighborhood’s drug problem.
“That stuff is like dynamite once it catches fire,” Rainey said. “It could take his house, the house next to it and cause damage to my property.”
Detectives said Thursday’s bust stems from multiple drug deals involving undercover officers.