Bibb deputies fire up new drug incinerator

Evidence in adjudicated Bibb County drug cases is now going up in flames in a new portable incinerator.

The sheriff's office bought the "Drug Terminator" earlier this year and fired it up for about the third time Thursday morning at the crime lab at 2654 Houston Ave.

"It's supposed to be a clean burn," said Lt. Randy Gonzalez, a public information officer for the Bibb County Sheriff's Office.

The $4,250 apparatus consists of a 55 gallon drum on a rolling cart, with a chute that allows all types of drugs, including marijuana, cocaine and pills, to be incinerated with very little residual smoke, Gonzalez said.

With a base fire of wood or charcoal, high velocity blowers whip up an intense cyclone of heat that consumes the drugs, leaving behind only a small pile of sterile ash.

The device also can be used when the sheriff's office collects unwanted prescription drugs during annual roundups designed to keep harmful chemicals from being flushed into the sewer system or winding up in the wrong hands when thrown away.

This story was originally published November 5, 2015 at 6:31 PM with the headline "Bibb deputies fire up new drug incinerator ."