Three people were charged Thursday, July 12, 2012, with making and possessing methamphetamine in O’Fallon after authorities received a tip about a meth lab.

Charged with making and possessing methamphetamine were:

• Timothy Collins, 35, of the first block of Oak Drive in St. Peters;
• Michael A. Perkins, 51, of the first block of Princess Lane in Wentzville;
• Carla Fay Hopkins, 42, of Curryville, MO.

Acting on a tip, St. Charles County Drug Task Force members went to a mobile home July 10 on Thoroughbred Drive in O’Fallon and saw two men leave the house and get in a pickup truck. As detectives drove past the house, they smelled a strong chemical odor from cooking meth, according to a task force report.

Detectives arranged to have the truck stopped by St. Charles County deputies while detectives checked out the house. Inside the home, they found Hopkins and a fully functioning meth lab in the kitchen, two grams of meth and meth ingredients. They also found a trashcan in front of the home with remains from used meth ingredients and equipment, which was the strong odor source.

Hopkins told detectives she went with Collins to a Walgreens in Chesterfield to buy pseudoephedrine and cold packs for meth ingredients.

After the traffic stop, Perkins told detectives they would find a meth lab in the residence at the mobile home they just left.

Bond was set at $20,000 each for Collins, Perkins and Hopkins.