Macon, Mo.-A stakeout equipped with a camera inside a farmer’s barn north of Atlanta, Mo., resulted in the arrest of three persons for stealing anhydrous ammonia and a fourth individual at a suspected “meth house,” according to the Macon County sheriff’s office. Chief Deputy Jeff Vogan told Green Markets that the three, who were captured after a vehicle chase, now face felony drug and resisting arrest charges. “We had a camera on one of two nurse tanks for awhile and then took our best guess when they might be there,” Vogan related. He said the thieves were allowed to carry their bounty to their car and then gave officers the slip. “We ended up having to pursue them for four or five miles (before making the arrest),” Vogan reported. “The three in the car were familiar to us. We also knew about an abandoned property where a couple of them lived and we had seen their vehicle.” The fourth person, arrested at the house while waiting for his friends, was charged with providing a precursor for manufacturing a controlled substance. Bail has been set at $40,000 cash for each. According to Vogan, anhydrous-related meth problems have been numerous in this wide-open territory. “Because we’re such a big rural county with a lot of farmland, it makes it ideal for meth cooks to steal anhydrous out of the tanks,” he explained. “A few years ago we were working meth labs all the time. Then it seemed to slow down, and now it’s picking back up again.”
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