Police arrest couple after finding child, meth lab in car | Crime

A couple faces drug and child endangerment charges after police say they found an active meth lab under the hood of their car.

According to the Second Judicial Drug Task Force, on July 18 Arkansas State Police Trooper Rocky Rapert stopped a vehicle on Interstate 55, near the south end of Mississippi County, for not having a working license plate light.

While speaking to the driver, 30-year-old Paula Lowery of Bradford, Tennessee, Trooper Rapert reported smelling “a strong odor of marijuana” coming from the vehicle.

Trooper Rapert, along with Trooper Brandon Bennet, conducted a search and reportedly found a metal ammunition box under the hood, behind the radiator.  Inside the box Trooper Rapert said he found an “active methamphetamine reaction, sodium hydroxide, lithium batteries, salt, camp fuel, ammonium nitrate and sulfuric acid.” 

Lowery and her passenger, 31-year-old Finis Hundley of Dyer, Tennessee, were arrested and charged with manufacture of a controlled substance (methamphetamine).  Because the couple’s two-year-old son was in the car with them, they were also charged with endangering the welfare of a minor.

Both Lower and Hundley are being held in lieu of $75,000 bond at the Mississippi County Jail.

Photos provided by Mississippi County Sheriff's Office.