PUTNAMVILLE, Ind. — A record seizure of methamphetamine for Indiana happened by chance when a traveler found $10 million worth of the drug on the side of I-70 east in Putnam County on Sept. 15.
The DEA says someone found six green and blue duffel bags in the grass and alerted police. The DEA and other agencies responded, seizing 225 pounds of meth.
That makes it the largest seizure of meth in Indiana history.
DEA investigators would like to know who left the bags in the ditch, and if they planned to come back and get them, just ditched them for good, or maybe someone else was supposed to claim them.
"We're talking $10 million worth of methamphetamine,” Mike Gannon said. "Somebody somewhere cannot be happy about that being left on the side of the road. Our job will be to find out who sent it and hold them accountable."
The DEA believes the large amount and purity of the crystal meth undoubtedly means it came from one of two drugs cartels in Mexico.
"They're manufacturing methamphetamine at clandestine laboratories in Mexico,” Gannon said. “Then they're producing very high-quality methamphetamine to people in the state of Indiana and throughout the country."
Gannon says meth is the biggest illegal drug problem in the state, as well as passing through Indiana on the interstates.
"It really has no socioeconomic value of who are going to use drugs and why people are using drugs,” Gannon said. “It can affect everybody and every citizen. I think the important thing for us, which makes this like a huge win, was just getting that off the street."
The DEA says it seized almost half a ton of meth in Indiana last fiscal year.
Anyone with information about the 225 pounds of methamphetamine is urged to call the DEA Evansville Resident Office at 812-465-6457.