Final destination

Since October, the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office has accumulated a stockpile of drugs from 19 felony drug arrests made within the county.

The stockpile, which consists of 1,138.44 pounds of marijuana, 3.56 pounds of methamphetamine, 302 grams of liquid THC, 115.69 grams of heroin and 49 grams of cocaine, will eventually be destroyed.

According to Det. Dick Blust, public information officer for the sheriff’s office, said the stockpile has a street value of more than $5 million.

He said the sheriff’s office uses source websites such as http://www.hightimes.com, http://www.priceofweed.com and http://www.rehabcenter.net to determine the street prices of various drugs they seize.

According to Blust, the drugs are kept in what he describes as a “ special, solidly-secured lockdown facility.” After a case involving drugs is closed and a verdict for the defendants involved is reached, Blust said the sheriff’s office prepares a destruction order request and sends it to the Wyoming Attorney General’s Office.

Once a hard-copy of the approval is received, a district court judge reviews the authorization for a signature and the destruction request is filed with Clerk of District Court’s office.

The drugs are then incinerated, either at the Solid Waste District No.1 landfill south of Rock Springs or through the Sweetwater County Bomb Squad’s ammunition and fireworks disposal trailer. The ashes resulting from incineration are then buried.

Blust said the bomb squad’s trailer is a mobile, propane-fueled burning unit that generates approximately 900 degrees of head while burning.

The unit was purchased with grant funds by the Region 4 Regional Response Team, through the Wyoming Department of Homeland Security.