Black smoke leads officer to Poplar Bluff meth lab

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Black smoke filling the sky Thursday morning led a police officer to finding not only a fire, but a suspected shake-and-bake methamphetamine lab.

Poplar Bluff police detective Corey Mitchell was driving when he saw black smoke, which he thought was a house fire. He found the source of the smoke to be a fire in the front yard of a garage and approached Nathan Montgomery who was near the fire.

"Whenever I made contact with him, his demeanor instantly changed when he realized I was law enforcement," Mitchell said.

As he was talking to Montgomery, Mitchell said he saw a man and a woman enter a nearby garage and close its doors.

Mitchell said he could smell a chemical odor he associated with the manufacturing of methamphetamine coming from the garage.

Given the ether odor, the shutting of the doors, the fire and the change in Montgomery's demeanor, "I believed there was criminal activity afoot," Mitchell said.

Montgomery was renting the garage and gave Mitchell permission to search it.

Inside the garage and a car on the property, police reportedly found a shake-and-bake meth lab in a backpack and items associated with the manufacture of methamphetamine.

The fire was allegedly being used to burn off evidence from an earlier meth cook, Mitchell said. Tires, which caused the black smoke, were used to produce extreme heat, he said.

Montgomery, 25, of Puxico, Mo., and Angela Lee, 37, of Poplar Bluff were charged with suspicion of possession of a controlled substance. Montgomery, Lee and Jimmy Garner, 45, of Poplar Bluff were charged with manufacturing methamphetamine. Montgomery's bond was set at $50,000; he is on probation for theft and possession of a controlled substance charges.

Lee and Garner were released Friday pending review of the case by the prosecuting attorney's office.

Pertinent address:

Poplar Bluff, Mo.