Last week Timothy Northrop, Amanda Keys and Rodney King Jr. were arrested on fugitive of justice charges in Pleasants County. Police say the three admitted to buying large quantities of Pseudo-ephedrine from pharmacies in both West Virginia and Ohio.

It was a state law that helped police catch these three suspects. "if you go in to buy cold tablets, you are required to register and we checked all of the pharmacies in the area. We found out this guy, along with five other people had been purchasing large amounts of the pseudo-ephedrine," says Washington Co. Sheriff, Larry Mincks.

The investigation brought together four police forces to bring down the suspected criminals. "The Parkersburg Narcotics Task Force, because these people happen to reside in West Virginia, the West Virginia State Police, St. Marys, and also the Pleasants County Sheriffs Office", says Mincks. They also got a little help from a pharmacy worker. "It was an alert employee who saw match boxes, with red phosphorous being purchased by this individual and he felt it was out of place. He gave one of our agents a call the day this guy was in", says Mincks.

After that the four forces were able to track the suspects and make an arrest, which led to the discovery of two meth labs. "During the execution of the arrest warrants we found, at two different locations, we found two meth labs that had been in operation and had not been dismantled. In addition, we were able to maintain cooperation and confessions from a number of people over there", says Mincks.

The three suspects appeared in court Thursday and have waived extradition, meaning they will all go back to Ohio to face their charges.
Sheriff Mincks also says that this was the first time Washington County has used the pharmacy log to catch a criminal