HAMPTON, Va. — A Hampton woman has been charged for allegedly making meth inside a home. The arrest comes after authorities found a man dead in a home where investigators also discovered materials that would be used to make meth.
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Man found dead in Hampton home with suspected meth lab inside: Police
On Wednesday, emergency personnel were called to a home in the 600 block of Grimes Road for a medical call. That's when they found the man dead along with the suspected drug paraphernalia.
Several homes in the area were evacuated.
Neighbors said they were shocked to hear about this happening.
"I ride by here every day, didn't suspect anything. It's not good," said David Honeycutt, who lives nearby.
Ann Marie McQuade, 31 was charged with manufacturing methamphetamine and conspiring to manufacture methamphetamine, police said.
The police department also shared that the medical call they received on Wednesday for the man who died was not related to illegal drugs.
Virginia State Police said meth is often made through a "one-pot" method. It requires household materials like plastic bottles, gloves and glassware and often medicines.
"You'll see lots of pseudoephedrine medications along with stripped lithium batteries and anything you see lithium stripped out of the battery it can lead to a clue that it's being used for something nefarious," said Virginia State Police First Sergeant Joseph Zyra.
Zyra said smell could also be an indication.
"Any ammonia smell will indicate that as well coming from one of those pots and I wouldn't recommend trying to smell it," said Zyra.
The Virginia Department of Health said meth overdoses were once uncommon in the state compared to other drugs, but that started to change in 2014.
VDH says Fentanyl is also being mixed with meth, which is responsible for more than 73% of meth overdose deaths. There's also been a 3 percent rise in fatal meth overdoses from 2021 to 2022.
Zyra said, in the last few years, the flow of meth has increased and it's not just because someone is manufacturing themselves.
"It's ultimately coming through Mexico and people are less likely making it now a days because it's become so cheap," Zyra said.
