Cab Driver Unwittingly Busts Mobile Meth Lab
On Christmas Day, a Chicago cab driver picked up 25-year-old Joseph Hoffman. When they arrived at Hoffman's destination, he was passed out cold. The driver eventually called police, who found a mobile meth lab and other drugs worth $450,000.
The anonymous driver told the Chicago Tribune that Hoffman (pictured) was chatting someone up on his cell phone for a good portion of the ride, but when they arrived at Hoffman's destination in Rogers Park, he was out cold. After 10 minutes of trying to wake him, the cabbie finally called police. And boy, did they ever hit the jackpot.
Inside Hoffman's bag were bottles of a "clear, crystalline substance" connected to a "power source," which police determined was a methamphetamine lab. And that's not all! Hoffman was apparently a full service drug dealer, providing uppers, downers, and date rape drugs. According to the paper:
Police said [Hoffman] consented to a search of a residence in the 800 block of West Dakin Street, where officers found a gallon jug filled with suspected GHB, the so-called date rape drug; small bags of marijuana; $1,401 in cash; and other drug paraphernalia, the report said.
Hoffman has been charged with six felonies. And the worst part? The cabbie got hosed. "They said they found a lot of bad stuff. My only concern was to collect my fare. It was going on and on, and I didn't even get my full fare," he told the paper.