North Myrtle Beach police arrested a man in connection with a rolling methamphetamine lab found in a truck Wednesday.
Robby Hawkins, 31, was approached by police at a car wash on Highway 17 and 21st Avenue South, according to a report from the North Myrtle Beach Public Safety Department. Police said the truck Hawkins was driving was possibly involved in a breaking and entering auto incident Wednesday.
Police searched the vehicle and found a large Gatorade bottle filled with chemicals consistent with the manufacturing of Methamphetamine, according to city spokesman Pat Dowling. The chemicals had been shaken, but hadn't started to cook, so they were still stable. The report shows Hawkins admitted to police that he planned to manufacture methamphetamine.
The chemicals can be very volatile, so the highway was closed and traffic rerouted as police added sand and other ingredients to stabilize the mixture, Dowling said. All lanes of Highway 17 were reopened at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Hawkins is charged with Attempt to Manufacture Methamphetamine and Breaking and Entering Auto.
A female who was with Hawkins at the time wasn't charged because she wasn't in the truck.
NewsChannel 15 is waiting for a police report regarding the breaking and entering auto incident.
