While Meth seizures from operations in the state of Alaska is down, staff writer Jeff Richardson of the Fairbanks News Miner reports that seizures of small portable operations have became more common.

The most recent uncovery of a small meth making operation in Fairbanks occurred as a result of a tip on Monday.

The raid failed to uncover any meth or meth making supplies in the house but an investigation of the outside of the house found suspicious materials. What is suspected to be meth ingredients was found in a jar outside the home on Noble Street during Monday’s search by Alaska State Troopers Statewide Drug Enforcement Unit. The jar and its contents were forwarded to the state crime lab for positive identification.

With the help of University of Alaska Fairbanks Police and a hazmat team from the North Star Borough, the operation was dismantled.

There was no one at the Fairbanks residence during the raid that was carried out there, but charges may be forthcoming after the crime lab concludes it analysis of the contents of the jar.

While the DEA points out that the manufacture of Meth in the United States has dropped considerably due in part to controls put on the ingredients used to make the substance, increasing amounts of the drug is being smuggled into the United States by Mexican drug cartels.

Meth manufacture has both short and long term hazards. Most meth operations tend to have children present in the home. Besides the very apparent fire hazard, meth also produces toxic fumes as well as a large amount of toxic waste. These fumes can be severly debilitating or even fatal to anyone coming into contact with them.

This toxic waste will also stay with the home long after the meth producing occupants move away and many times the home is too contaminated for human habitation and must be completely demolished. Clean up in even the smallest of operations require the crews to wear hazmat gear to protect them from the caustic chemicals used in the production of the drug.