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Warrant issued for Mass. chemist in drug test flap

Passers-by approach the William A. Hinton State Laboratory Institute, which houses the Massachusetts state drug lab, in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012. Documents revealed Wednesday that a crime lab chemist, whose work has thrown thousands of prosecutions into question, spend years faking results. (Steven Senne / Associated Press)
Denise Lavoie Associated Press

BOSTON (AP) — A Boston court has issued an arrest warrant for a chemist accused of faking drug results, forging signatures and mixing samples at a state police lab.

Annie Dookhan’s alleged mishandling of drug samples prompted Gov. Deval Patrick to shut down the lab in August and has put thousands of drug prosecutions in jeopardy. State police say she admitted to faking the results.

State police say Dookhan tested more than 60,000 drug samples involving 34,000 defendants during her nine years at the lab.

A warrant for her arrest was issued Friday in Boston Municipal Court. A state trooper vehicle was parked in her driveway in Franklin, and four officers entered the house.

Since the lab was shut down, more than a dozen drug defendants have been released on bail or had their sentences placed on hold.