VCSO: Edgewater woman linked to meth lab in a bag

Drugs and ledger recovered in wooded area of Oak Hill

Jennifer Huffman in custody on drug charges / HesdlineSurfer.comEDGEWATER -- An Edgewater woman is facing numerous drug charges after she was spotted walking into the woods with what turned out to be a portable meth lab in a bag, a Volusia County Sheriff's official said.

Narcotics investigators also recovered a ledger that appeared to be used to document drug sales, agency spokesman Gary Davidson said, leading to the arrest of 33-year-old Jennifer Huffman (on charges that included manufacture of methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine, trafficking in methamphetamine, possession of listed chemicals and possession of drug paraphernalia. Her initial bond was set at $155,000.

The Sheriff's Office was initially contacted about the suspicious activity shortly after 1 p.m. Thursday, after a resident reported seeing a car drive down the road and then stop in front of a wooded area along Sargent Avenue in Oak Hill.

"The caller told a Sheriff's Office telecommunicator that as he watched, a woman carrying a black bag got out of the car and walked into the woods and when she emerged a few moments later, she no longer had the bag," Davidson said. "She placed a plastic cup on a tree at the woods line, apparently to mark her spot, and then got back in the car and it drove off. After the vehicle left, the curious witness walked in the woods to see what was in the bag. He soon found out that it had all of the components of a mobile math lab, including paint thinner, scissors, a pocket knife, plastic soda bottles, drain opener and lighter fluid."

The resident, however, stopped looking and called law enforcement after he detected a strong chemical odor coming out of the bag. After deputies arrived to confirm the find -- which was about 30 feet into the woods, behind a tree and covered with a palm frond -- they contacted Sheriff's narcotics units to respond and take over the investigation. The investigators also located a plastic bottle containing about 70 grams of meth along with a ledger.

The resident who reported the incident was able to give the Sheriff's Office a detailed description of the suspicious vehicle, right down to the damage to the front end.

"Sheriff's investigators who were on their way to the scene spotted the suspect vehicle at about 2:25 p.m. and followed it into Edgewater, where an Edgewater officer pulled it over," Davidson said. "A passenger in the car, Huffman was arrested after she was identified as the woman who was seen walking into the woods with the bag."