Reporting Protocol

When law enforcement officers discover what they believe to be a clandestine drug lab producing methamphetamine, the SBI recommends that they take the following steps:

• Leave the lab area and remove other people from the area because of the danger of explosion, fire, or chemical exposure by contact or inhalation.
• Avoid any further contact with the suspected lab.
• Contact the appropriate fire and EMS agencies if strong chemical odors are present at the scene.
• Contact the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) district office in their region and advise the SBI that they have discovered a possible drug lab.
• An SBI agent from that district will then gather all information related to the officer's observations of the possible lab. The agent will also obtain any available intelligence information on the address and any suspects known to reside at the address.
• The SBI district will then contact an SBI Clandestine Laboratory Response Team agent who will coordinate with the SBI Crime Lab and others to respond to the lab site.
• The SBI Clandestine Laboratory Response Team agent will also coordinate the processing and removal of hazardous materials from the lab site by a hazardous waste contractor.
• The SBI Clandestine Laboratory Response Team agent and the SBI case agent will collect information at the scene necessary for reporting the lab site and to the DEA and EPIC.
• An SBI Clandestine Laboratory Response Team agent will post a warning at the lab site and will also generate letters to the property owner and the county health director, advising them that a clandestine drug lab was discovered at that location.
• If children are removed from a lab site, the county Division of Social Services (DSS) office should be contacted immediately.