Police: Indiana on track to have most meth lab busts for third year in a row

JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (WDRB) -- It was a concerned citizen's tip that led investigators to 51-year-old Charles Faust last week.

Police say after searching his Washington, Indiana trailer and the yard, they found meth and meth lab materials.

The arrest isn't unusual.

"As of June of this year, Indiana was leading the rest of the states in the nation by a margin of well over 200 labs," Indiana State Police Sgt. Philip Hensley said.

The state is on pace for a four percent increase compared to last year with 947 meth lab busts through July.

Indiana is expected to top the nation in meth lab busts for the third year in a row.

"There's a lot of states that have adopted laws making pseudoephedrine, the key ingredient in meth, a controlled substance," Hensley told WDRB News.

He says in states with strict laws, like requiring a prescription, the number of busts have gone down.

But that doesn't necessarily mean there's less meth on the streets.

"We do know that we do have methamphetamine coming from the southwestern states that is crossing the border from Mexico," Hensley said.

A steady supply of meth has kept people addicted.

Julie Schwerer runs a women's residential recovery program in Jeffersonville.

She says about 60 percent of the people she works with have used meth.

"It's not something that once you start, you just stop because it takes a level of desperation in order to be willing to really do something different with your life," she said.

Police say they'll keep working to find the imported meth and searching for labs.

Number one for busts is a ranking this state doesn't want next year.

"We're still up and we're still a lot higher than we want to be," Hensley said.

As for the states right behind Indiana for meth lab busts, police say Michigan is second and Ohio is third.