Agents Raid Lab Making New Kind Of Speed

The pieces of an apparently illegal laboratory producing a unique drug have been seized near a Lewiston-area house, authorities say.

The chemicals and glassware confiscated are believed to have been stolen from Potlatch Corp.

The materials made up what police suspect was a lab for producing an illegal narcotic, methcathinone, not common to this area, the state Bureau of Narcotics said Friday.

The items confiscated Thursday night were boxed as if ready to be moved or stored, bureau special agent David Kane said.

The drug is a central nervous system stimulant much like methamphetamine, but supposedly more powerful, he said.

“This would be the first known methcathinone lab discovered in Idaho,” special agent Vernon Grotjohn said. “The drug is known in the East but hasn’t been seen here.”