Meth cooks becoming common in hotel rooms

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – Cooking, then booking. Too many hotel rooms are seeing meth labs recently.

Police think a meth lab started a fire Tuesday night at the Red Roof Inn in Kalamazoo, where a hidden lab exploded as crews worked to put out the fire.

That fire broke out around 8:30 Tuesday night, and burned a second floor room at the Red Roof Inn, but once firefighters got in, they realized the people in the room may have been cooking meth. Cooking meth in hotels is becoming a trend.

“Being winter time, it's cold out, they're looking for somewhere warm to cook,” said Sgt. David Boysen of the Kalamazoo Valley Enforcement Team. “They don't like doing it in their own houses, they don't want to get caught in their own houses.”

The meth cooks who are believed to have started the fire, secretly converted the hotel room into a meth kitchen. Authorities say in hotels, meth cooks can go unnoticed, they cook for a day and then get out.

KVET says in the case of the Red Roof Inn fire, a third party booked the room with no hint of concern, but cooking meth leaves dangerous chemicals behind for the next guest.

“It contaminates the room, and unless we discover the lab, law enforcement or a citizen calls us to report the lab, unless we find the lab, it's not going to get decontaminated,” said Sgt. Boysen.

“There's always a risk of being exposed to the methamphetamine itself,” said Mark Delisle, of Delisle Associates, Environmental Health Consulting.

Delisle test the environmental quality of buildings after they've been used for cooking meth. He says a hotel guest would probably only have limited exposure, but any exposure to meth is bad.

“The risk goes up if there's a young person there, for instance an infant crawling on the floor, residual meth can be in the carpet fibers,” said Delisle.

Delisle also says a hotel room can bottle up all the chemicals used to cook meth.

“It's more of a confined space, a lot of them don't have proper ventilation systems with makeup air, which concentrates it,” said Delisle.

The suspects involved in Tuesday night's fire, couldn't finish cooking, but it's tough to say how many hidden hotel room labs are never found, and authorities say meth cooks target lower cost hotels, adding that a lab could be in any room, behind any door, so guests need to be alert.

“The big thing is the odor,” said Sgt. Boysen. “If you smell ammonia, whether it's in the room you check into or maybe during the night you smell it coming from another room, make sure you call law enforcement. Let them know, call the front desk, find out what's going on, because you're in danger.”

KVET says they're currently looking for two suspects, one of whom is said to be a known meth cook, both fled the scene Tuesday night.

Sgt. Boysen says that even though his agency and others are working with the hotels, providing them names and descriptions of Meth users and makers they shouldn't book, in the case of the Red Roof a third party booked the room, and that party was unknown to KVET.

Delisle says his agency tests two to five meth labs a week, and that cleaning a hotel room could cost between $2,000 and $20,000. He also says chemical residue can be left on the walls, or in the bed, and that small children who put their hands in their mouths are in particular danger.

The American Hotel and Lodging Association has issued a statement on meth in hotels;

"Methamphetamine labs are highly volatile, which is one reason why these labs are set up in hotel and motel guestrooms instead of personal residences. With today's technology, methamphetamine labs can be set up and produced in less than four hours. Methamphetamine labs are very costly to the lodging industry because of the hazardous materials. After the hazardous materials are removed by a Hazmat team, the clean up of the room can cost the property anywhere from $2,000 to $20,000.

"AH&LA opposes methamphetamine labs in lodging facilities, as they are illegal and pose a threat to the safety of our guests, employees, and the community. In addition, the industry is working with law enforcement officials to stop this activity and to ensure proper remediation of the methamphetamine lab chemicals and implements."