P contamination of camper vans increasing

WELLINGTON: Holidaymakers may be sleeping in camper vans contaminated with the toxic chemicals used to make methamphetamine.

National Clandestine Laboratory response team supervisor Detective Sergeant Rhys Wilson said portable P labs were on the rise, and police frequently found them in camper vans and other vehicles.

Once P cooks were finished with the vehicles they were likely to sell them, he said.

‘‘The poor person who ends up subsequently buying this has obviously no idea of what it’s been used for and what sort of contamination is in it.’’

Solvents, acids and caustics were often found in the clandestine labs, he said.

The chemicals were ‘‘pervasive and cause significant contamination’’.

‘‘Houses are more often checked for meth contamination but things like mobile homes . . . aren’t usually checked for contamination and tend to pass through quite a few pairs of hands.’’

While some cooks manufactured the class A drug in vehicles, others contaminated vehicles by using them to store or transport chemicals and meth cooking equipment, Det Sgt Wilson said.

When police found stolen vehicles that had been used by P cooks they alerted insurers who could have the car decontaminated or destroyed.