Pharmacy records lead to meth arrest

WASILLA — A tip and a check of pharmacy records led Alaska State Troopers to bust a meth lab Wednesday.

The lab was first reported March 28, but court filings reveal a clearer picture.

According to an written statement Trooper Shayne Calt filed in court, tips about the lab in a mobile home on Sandra L Circle — a side street off of Pamela Drive north of Wasilla — arrived in January and then again in March. The tipster gave him names of people that lived there — Billy Sims, 46, and Salinda Sims, 37, and Billy’s brother, Anthony Sims, 41.

“Acting on the tip information, I checked local stores for pseudoephedrine purchases by Billy, Salinda and Anthony,” Calt wrote.

He found purchases at Walgreens and Wal-Mart in January, February and March.

That and the tip added up to a search warrant. On Wednesday, Calt writes, he trailed Anthony Sims as he ran errands in Wasilla, ultimately buying a bottle of Coleman fuel from Carrs.

“Coleman fuel is a common and necessary ingredient in the methamphetamine manufacturing process,” Calt writes.

At 5 p.m., after tailing Anthony Sims, the warrant was finally served, Calt writes, and all three Simses were home.

“Directly inside the front door of the mobile home that Billy, Anthony and Salinda occupied was an active meth cook, inside a plastic soda bottle. The chemicals and ingredients inside the soda bottle were boiling slightly,” Calt writes.

Troopers also found lithium batteries cut open with the lithium removed — lithium metal is another common ingredient in cooking methamphetamines with that method apparently being used in the trailer home.

“On a piece of glass across from the soda bottle was a white, powdery substance, which appeared to be methamphetamine. The substance was field tested and it tested presumptive positive for methamphetamine,” Calt wrote.

Two other bottles with meth waste were found from apparent prior cooks.

Calt writes that troopers interviewed Billy, Anthony and Salinda Sims separately.

“Billy admitted to manufacturing methamphetamine using supplies purchased for him by Anthony and Salinda. Salinda admitted to purchasing supplies for Billy to manufacture methamphetamine,” Calt writes. “Anthony admitted to purchasing pseudoephedrine, Coleman fuel and ammonium nitrate. Anthony admitted that the pseudoephedrine and Coleman fuel were for Billy, but claimed that he did not know Billy was manufacturing meth with the supplies, even though there was an active meth cook happening inside the mobile home.”

All three were jailed at the Mat-Su Pre-trial Facility with bail set at $20,000 and requirements they find a third party custodian to watch over them before being released. Billy Sims’ bail was bumped up an extra $500 because he was allegedly in violation of his probation on a 2009 driving on a revoked license conviction. All three were still in that facility as of Saturday morning, according to jail records.

Contact reporter Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.