Officers of the Mississippi County unit of the Second Judicial District Drug Task Force destroyed two years worth of evidence by fire Wednesday morning at the Mississippi County Sheriff's Office.
The evidence consisted mostly of illegal narcotics and illegally-obtained narcotics, said Lt. Robb Rounsavall of the DTF.
The drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, crack, hydrocodone and methamphetamine, would have had a value of $200,000, if it had been sold on the streets, he said.
Also included in the burn were evidence such as components used to manufacture and sell methamphetamine, such as scales, coffee filters and more.
"It's hard to put a street value on lab components because the product would have been unlimited," Rounsavall said.
Items destroyed include cell phones, DVD and CD players and other evidence seized from convicted drug offenders.
All evidence destroyed was from cases that have already been adjudicated, or completed in court.
"It takes a while for it to stack up this way," said Blytheville Police Chief Ross Thompson, who assisted with the destruction.
Once a case has been through court, the evidence is no longer needed. Since storage space is limited, burns are used to destroy the drugs and items so that it cannot be used again for illegal purposes, said Sheriff James Sanders.
In all, the evidence destroyed Wednesday was from 126 drug-related cases handled by DTF officers in 2008 and 2009, Rounsavall said.
The officers built this specially-designed burn pit for this purpose to ensure that all evidence is reduced to ashes, Rounsavall said. "In the past, we used burn barrels, but it didn't get enough air to burn completely," he said.
Officers poured flammable liquids on the items to ensure it all burned.
dhilton@blythevillecourier.com