Woman Cooks Meth at Walmart While Held for Shoplifting

The store was evacuated when police discovered the meth lab in her purse

A shoplifting suspect just couldn't wait to get out of Walmart's security holding room and cook up some meth — so she allegedly set up her portable meth lab right then and there.

After the St. Louis-area store's loss prevention officers detained the woman, believing her to have been shoplifting, they left her in the room and went to call the police, local NBC affiliate NewsChannel 5 reported.

When the police showed up, they found a 20-ounce soda bottle in her purse that had been cooking meth while she was being held. 

"The sergeant on the scene who helped to dismantle it said it was currently cooking when [police] showed up and it had the potential to become flammable or blow up at any time," Lt. Mark Cox of the St. Louis County Police told NewsChannel 5.

The store was immediately evacuated, since meth labs can pose explosion hazards. A hazmat team cleaned up the holding room in the Mehlville, Mo., store, according to NewsChannel 5.

Many more meth-making ingredients were reportedly found in the suspect's car in the parking lot, too.

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