By the numbers
Meth lab seizures, area counties, 2015
Fayette: 10
Wayne: 9
Henry: 9
Franklin: 6
Union: 2
Rush: 1
Source: Indiana State Police
While heroin might be considered the predominant illegal drug currently impacting Fayette County and the surrounding area, statistics released this month by the Indiana State Police show that another illegal and harmful drug is still just as present in area communities.
The ISP Meth Suppression Section released its 2015 figures for clandestine meth lab seizures earlier this month, and while the number of labs seized by the ISP decreased slightly from 2014 to 2015 — a total of 1,452 labs last year, compared to 1,469 in 2014 — that trend went in the opposite direction for Fayette County and the ISP Pendleton District as a whole.
The ISP's Pendleton District seized a total of 303 clandestine meth labs in 2015, a 42.9 percent increase over 2014's figure of 212 meth labs. The ISP Pendleton District, in fact, led the entire state in meth lab seizures for 2015, due mostly to Delaware County, which was the county with the highest number of meth lab seizures — 234 — in 2015.
Locally, Fayette County saw its number of meth lab seizures double in 2015, jumping from five in 2014 to 10 last year.
That figure placed Fayette County fourth-highest, of the eight-county ISP Pendleton District, for number of meth lab seizures in 2015 — behind only Randolph, Madison and Delaware counties. It also was the highest total of meth lab seizures, in 2015, among counties in the News-Examiner's coverage area.
Wayne County's number of lab seizures tripled between 2014 and 2015, as they had 9 meth lab seizures by the ISP last year, compared to only three in 2014.
A slight increase between 2014 and 2015 also took place in Franklin County — covered by the ISP Versailles District — as the county had six meth lab seizures in 2015, up from five in 2014.
Henry County's figure for 2015 remained the same, as the county had 9 meth lab seizures conducted by the ISP, much as 2014.
Two area counties which did see decreases were Union and Rush County, as Union saw its meth lab seizures drop in half from four in 2014 to two for 2015, while Rush County had only one meth lab seizure for 2015.
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