Sheriff: Narcotics Team Busts Mobile Meth Lab

A Gaston man was arrested Monday after the Lexington County Multi-Agency Narcotics Enforcement Team found a mobile methamphetamine lab in a stolen pickup truck near Lexington.

Keith Wayne Kirkland, 26, of 3105 Bachman Road, Gaston, has been charged with second-offense manufacturing methamphetamine and possessing a stolen motor vehicle, according to the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department. 

Deputies say they received information from the West Columbia Police Department that Kirkland had been seen driving a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck in Lexington.

The truck was reported stolen on Sunday from a fenced-in area at the rear of Performance Strength Designs, Inc. near West Columbia.

Deputies then went to a residence, which they say Kirkland is known to frequently visit, on Peachtree Rock Road, and found the truck parked in front of a camper.

Kirkland was found in the camper and arrested at the scene.

Deputies also found items used to operate a mobile meth lab behind the driver’s seat of the truck, according to the sheriff's department. 

Kirkland is being held at the Lexington County Detention Center while awaiting a bond hearing.