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Mathes: Meth an ‘epidemic’

By Nathan Baker

Overnight raids at more than a dozen Carter County locations led to the arrest of 18 people on charges related to methamphetamine manufacturing and the seizure of three suspected labs, Carter County Sheriff Chris Mathes said Thursday.

At a press conference in the Carter County Jail, Mathes said the 18 arrested were part of a group of 30 indicted on Nov. 13 on drug-related charges, the latest push by authorities to battle the meth-making subculture running rampant locally.

“It’s unbelievable what the meth society has become,” the sheriff said. “It’s an epidemic in the southern Appalachian states. These meth heads are killing themselves and they’re killing the community.”

Mathes said the raids, conducted between 11 p.m. Wednesday and 7 a.m. Thursday by 20 law enforcement officers in three teams, targeted residences that a 1st Judicial Drug Task Force investigation identified as probable locations where meth was made or sold.