Police: Woman made meth

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GREENFIELD — A funny-looking ketchup bottle led Indiana State Police on a month-long hunt for a woman they say has been making meth out of the Greenfield homes where she’s been staying, according to court records.

Beth Wright, 51, of Greenfield, was arrested last weekend and booked into the Hancock County Jail, where she remained at press time, on felony charges of dealing methamphetamine, possession of chemical reagents with the intent to manufacture drugs and maintaining a common nuisance.

Police began investigating Wright after a man reported finding an empty distorted ketchup bottle in his backyard. Wright had visited the man’s home a few days before, and a search of police records showed she had purchased pseudoephedrine — an over-the-counter drug commonly used to make meth — 20 times in little more than seven months, court records state.

Police tailed Wright for several days and watched as she stayed at the homes of friends and family members; those acquaintances cooperated with investigators and provided them with materials Wright had left at their homes, most of which police associate with mobile meth labs, court records state.

When Wright was confronted by investigators, she told them she had been making the drug for about a month, and she bought the ingredients needed from local grocery stores.

She now faces a Level 4 felony, carrying a penalty of two to 12 years; and two Level 6 felonies, each carrying penalties of six months to 2 ½ years. Her case is being heard in Hancock Circuit Court.

Wright was being held on a $5,000 cash bond at press time, according to jail records.