Two of my friends and I recently learned that you can get paid for locating and turning in meth labs/drug den's. I live out where it's more rural, and there are tons of backwoods drug operations. Anyway, the three of us were/are planning on using our survivalist skills and equipment to get a little extra funding. Our plan basically involves locating a few of these facilities and then surveying them, before turning our evidence and data over to the police. Is this a good idea for both training and funding (it should also be noted that the one friend has family in the DEA and Police, so we do understand the laws. Also we live in a state that still cracks down on thugs so the local cops are glad for the assistance).
Hunting Criminals
cookie9001
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Cookie, this is NOT a good idea at all because of liability. If you get one house wrong, just one wrong then you lose everything you own and the rest of your future income. Leave the crime fighting to those guys who get paid to do the job and are insured. You aren't insured, are you?
Cookie, methinks yopur gonna die dude............and posting your plans on a public site where frankly several members have openly supported drugs of various types, I would rethink my position
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well i'm kinda lost here.............i have mixed feelings.
1. dont go looking for trouble
2. Meth labs arent to be fooled with
3. money not worth the risk, just save money, find side work
4. if things go wrong, they could go very very wrong
5. do you really have the skills to pull this off
but who am i to ask you to turn a blind eye to whats going on. my advice would be let the sheriffs dept do their jobs. the risk far out weigh the rewards. now if a meth lab opens up on my street, i might poke around and call the police, but not because i need money, because i want that trash out of my neighborhood.
you said you had changed your mind, and i hope you have. but i cant tell a man not to fight for good, not to go patrol the border, not to join the armed services, or local law enforcement.
i think your hearts in the right place.........
like someone else said, i dont want to see you on the evening news, not over a little pocket money.
1. dont go looking for trouble
2. Meth labs arent to be fooled with
3. money not worth the risk, just save money, find side work
4. if things go wrong, they could go very very wrong
5. do you really have the skills to pull this off
but who am i to ask you to turn a blind eye to whats going on. my advice would be let the sheriffs dept do their jobs. the risk far out weigh the rewards. now if a meth lab opens up on my street, i might poke around and call the police, but not because i need money, because i want that trash out of my neighborhood.
you said you had changed your mind, and i hope you have. but i cant tell a man not to fight for good, not to go patrol the border, not to join the armed services, or local law enforcement.
i think your hearts in the right place.........
like someone else said, i dont want to see you on the evening news, not over a little pocket money.
Good ol' Meth Lab hunting! When I was in AZ for 18 Months I ended up hooking up with a 4 guys (two of them Maricopa Sheriffs Deputies) and doing that a few times in the mountains southeast of phoenix and once down at Buenos Aries NWR. I was a little leary of doing it with a bunch of guys I didn't really know that well... but after the first time, it was very apparent this wasn't their first rodeo.
We found a few houses and they were later raided but down by the border we never found anything.... but good lord! Watching the illegals LITERALLY flooding over the boarder through a night scope was very humbling/heartbreaking. Most of the time we'd hike out in the late afternoon as the heat started to die down, hunker down a bit away from a good observation point, watch and photograph through the night, then hike back as the sun came up. I think the closest we ever got to one house was about 400 yards... no way in hell I was going to go closer. At distance you can see ALL you need to see through a 8x scope.
Honestly... aside from just being out in the hills playing with your equipment... it was kinda boring. Definitely not a camping/shooting trip... and getting the **** scared out of you by a rattle snake suddenly firing up a few feet away from you was NOT fun!
If I were you... I wouldnt do it unless its in your HOME range where you know every knook and cranny of the landscape (so at least you can run and hide/get the hell out quick). Everytime I think back on doing that I kick myself for being that stupid! It was kinda cool checking out the stuff the deputies brought out though... not sure how they had so much NV gear... guessing they checked it out from the Sheriffs Department somehow.
But if you go... have fun!
We found a few houses and they were later raided but down by the border we never found anything.... but good lord! Watching the illegals LITERALLY flooding over the boarder through a night scope was very humbling/heartbreaking. Most of the time we'd hike out in the late afternoon as the heat started to die down, hunker down a bit away from a good observation point, watch and photograph through the night, then hike back as the sun came up. I think the closest we ever got to one house was about 400 yards... no way in hell I was going to go closer. At distance you can see ALL you need to see through a 8x scope.
Honestly... aside from just being out in the hills playing with your equipment... it was kinda boring. Definitely not a camping/shooting trip... and getting the **** scared out of you by a rattle snake suddenly firing up a few feet away from you was NOT fun!
If I were you... I wouldnt do it unless its in your HOME range where you know every knook and cranny of the landscape (so at least you can run and hide/get the hell out quick). Everytime I think back on doing that I kick myself for being that stupid! It was kinda cool checking out the stuff the deputies brought out though... not sure how they had so much NV gear... guessing they checked it out from the Sheriffs Department somehow.
But if you go... have fun!
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Your better off leaving things like that to the real pros - the police.
Those labs are usually operated by organized, heavily armed and violent gangs. They have their own intel networks that are as good as and in some cases better than the police. I know its tempting to earn some quick cash while putting a scumbag or two behind bars, but you can really be putting yourselves and your families in harms way. Your better off reporting it anonymously and letting the cops investigate.
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Gecko45 strikes again!!!
http://lonelymachines.org/mall-ninjas/
http://lonelymachines.org/mall-ninjas/
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That's awesome that you live someplace that allows this, I wish my town did.
Interesting topic.
Apart from all the safety risks (which you definately should take into consideration), I'm curious how you would do it.
How do you find meth labs? Just driving around? Watching who buys chemicals? Using informants? It sounds like a difficult job, apart from the dangers.
Apart from all the safety risks (which you definately should take into consideration), I'm curious how you would do it.
How do you find meth labs? Just driving around? Watching who buys chemicals? Using informants? It sounds like a difficult job, apart from the dangers.
Bad idea!!!
No training
No Experience
None of the right equipment
It never goes down like it does on television, you will be held liable for damage to property, death or bodily injury. Not to mention even if it went as planned, you would still be left tied up in court as a witness.
Also some of the chemicals and procedures involved with manufacturing methamphetamine, are highly sensitive to the simplest of elements.
It is great that you want to help, and natural to want a little something for yourself for helping. The best thing you can do is if you know the location of a lab, report it to the hot line.
No training
No Experience
None of the right equipment
It never goes down like it does on television, you will be held liable for damage to property, death or bodily injury. Not to mention even if it went as planned, you would still be left tied up in court as a witness.
Also some of the chemicals and procedures involved with manufacturing methamphetamine, are highly sensitive to the simplest of elements.
It is great that you want to help, and natural to want a little something for yourself for helping. The best thing you can do is if you know the location of a lab, report it to the hot line.
I preached the same thing in no uncertain terms and THEN some bro!:thumb:
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Bottom line, here are the down side to do this kind of thing.
1. Meth labs are run by tweekers. Tweekers that are cooking are even more paranoid than usual. Paranoid tweekers = real violent fools.
2. The reward you may get paid, probably after conviction, will not be that big.
3. The government agency paying the reward will most likely document who they gave the money to.
4. The tweekers defense attorney WILL file a discovery motion to find out the identity of the confidential reliable informant (you). Most times they loose these motions, but some times they win.
5. Accused people have the right to confront the witnesses of the prosecution, again, you. You may be compelled to appear in court.
It is a noble idea but not worth the risk.
1. Meth labs are run by tweekers. Tweekers that are cooking are even more paranoid than usual. Paranoid tweekers = real violent fools.
2. The reward you may get paid, probably after conviction, will not be that big.
3. The government agency paying the reward will most likely document who they gave the money to.
4. The tweekers defense attorney WILL file a discovery motion to find out the identity of the confidential reliable informant (you). Most times they loose these motions, but some times they win.
5. Accused people have the right to confront the witnesses of the prosecution, again, you. You may be compelled to appear in court.
It is a noble idea but not worth the risk.
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22,087 Posts
if you and your team pool resources, since you have technical capabilities, try playing to your strengths- build a UAV for about 400 bucks.
www.diydrones.com
www.diydrones.com
Meth addicts (commonly known as "tweekers") are far and above the most dangerous and unpredictable of all drug addicts (with the possible exception of PCP users, which are VERY rare). I would really think about this deeply if I were you. Tweekers are wide awake, very paranoid and agitate extremely easily. They are also known to have a lot of THEIR OWN surveillance equipment (read: paranoid) and they commonly armed to the teeth with an arsenal of firearms. I wouldn't go there if I were you.
It would be nice if we could play vigilante and hunt down criminals ourselves. I can think of a few people right now that would be at the top of my list. Of course law enforcement has the blessing of the court that ordinary citizens will never get. As much as it irks me sometimes; if I think about it rationally, it only makes sense. After all; if we were allowed to hunt down criminals, where would the line be drawn regarding our legal rights vs the criminals' legal rights? It's all so complicated. I just focus on protecting myself and those I care about if need be.
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