Two Chemistry professors in Arkansas were arrested by police for manufacturing methamphetamine.
Chemistry professors nabbed!
Last Friday, two Chemistry professors in Arkansas were nabbed by police after being reported for manufacturing illegal drugs, particularly methamphetamine. The two professors were identified as Terry David Bateman and Bradley Allen Rowland. Both were associate chemistry professors at Henderson State University.
The two professors were taken into custody by County Sheriff Jason Watson. The chemistry professors were charged with manufacturing illegal drugs and using drug paraphernalia. The drug recovered was methamphetamine.
After the incident, Rowland immediately posted bond and got out of jail.
Cooking drug components inside the science center
Tina Hall, the associate vice president for marketing and communication at Henderson State University confirmed that both professors were already on leave since October 11.
As far as I can remember, there was an incident last October 8 of an undetermined chemical odor inside the university’s science center. It was later found out that the incident showed a high residue of benzyl chloride.
Benzyl chloride is one of the main components of producing methamphetamine. Due to the incident, the science center was closed and has resumed operations on October 29 after being approved safe for usage by a third-party service provider.
The university does not tolerate the crime committed by its former chemistry professors and assured the authorities that they have the full cooperation of the university.
For the time being, investigations are still on-going. Further evidence is being sought about the extent of the drug production by the suspects. Authorities also want to know if they used it for personal consumption or for drug trafficking purposes.
The incident is a bit rare and can be compared to the television series Breaking Bad. Though the chances of incidents like this happening in a school context, authorities still ask for university officials and personnel to be extra vigilant in their respective campuses.
They certainly pulled out a very unexpected lab project!
Featured image by DrugDiscoveryTrends
