Lookout Mountain Drug Task Force, during a period of a little more than 24 hours last week, busted four meth labs and arrested nine people.

The task force also arrested five more people over the weekend in what Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson called, “the busiest week in some time for meth busts.”

According to Pat Stanfield, task force commander:

The first meth lab bust occurred at 2 p.m. on Feb. 1 at 1107 Probasco St. in LaFayette. Authorities arrested four people: Cynthia Denise Baugh, 39; James Eric Kinzalow, 35; Shane A. Harris, 27; and Pamela Brooke Harris, 24.

Kinzalow was a custodian at LaFayette High School. All are charged with criminal attempt to manufacture meth. However Magistrate Court did not find sufficient evidence to admit the Harrises to jail. The task force will present its cases to the grand jury at a later date.

The second bust occurred at Executive Inn in LaFayette on Feb. 2 at 11 a.m. Police arrested Chickamauga residents Jesse Stephens Paradise, 28, and Kimberlee Allman Carter, 23. Both are charged with manufacturing meth, possession of meth, possession of altered ephedrine, two counts of possession of hydrocodone, and three counts of possession of Adderal.

In a third bust, Steven Ray Duncan, 35, was arrested at 580 Bronco Road. It was his third meth-related charge. Crystal Pettigrew (a.k.a. Crystal Woodard), 25, was also arrested. Both are charged with manufacturing, possession, trafficking, and intent to distribute meth. Stanfield said the task force made the arrests shortly after those at Executive Inn.

The fourth bust, on Feb. 2, occurred on Lee School Road but no one was at the home when the Task Force arrived. An arrest warrant is pending on the suspects.

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Michael Shawn Scott, 34, of Corinth Road, was arrested for possession of meth on Feb. 2 at 7:40 p.m.

Also on the same day, the department arrested Leon Ingram, 49, and DeeDee Rhodes, 26, for possession of meth. Ingram was on probation but Rhodes was not committed by the magistrate judge, so her case will also be heard by the grand jury.

Sheriff Wilson said the department on Feb. 4 booked LaFayette resident Charles H. Benton, 40, on charges of manufacturing and possession of meth.

On Saturday, Feb. 5, the department served a warrant resulting from a December fire on Huffman Road in the Catlett community. Officers arrested LaFayette resident Darrell Robert Mitchell, 42, for criminal attempt to manufacture meth. He was booked after he was spotted at Wal-Mart.

In another case, LaFayette resident Cynthia K. White, 33, was arrested for manufacturing and possession of meth, as well as bringing drugs across the guard (jail) line.

Lab busts inside LaFayette limits, including those at Probasco Street and the Executive Inn, fall under a city ordinance requiring a private company to clean the room where a controlled substance was present. All utilities are also disconnected from the residence until the owner shows a certificate stating it is in acceptable condition. Once the certificate is given to the city and a judge, the utilities may be turned back on.

Sheriff Wilson said he and Cmdr. Stanfield plan to attend a state hearing on the meth epidemic. The hearing will be before the Georgia Assembly on Feb. 11. It will give them a chance to testify about the effects of meth in this area and encourage new legislation to help fight the meth problems