A Drug Task Force agent got an unwelcome surprise when he approached a pickup truck Tuesday – an active “one-pot” meth lab conducted by a current drug court client.

DTF Commander Mark Odom said agents were conducting a follow-up investigation at a residence on Oakey Streak Road near Gantt, when a vehicle pulled into the driveway of the home.

Odom said DTF agent Greg Jackson made his way to the truck to speak with the driver, Robbie Cameron Raley, 29, of Dozier.

When Agent Jackson asked Raley to step out of his truck, Jackson saw a plastic water bottle containing an active “one-pot” meth cook in the passenger seat, Odom said.

He said agents detained Raley and took steps to defuse the active cook. The field weight of the methamphetamine oil in the water bottle was more than 28 grams, he said.

“When we, at the DTF, first started seeing these one-pot meth cooks, we traveled to north Alabama and met with another task force that was already working one-pots to try and become more familiar,” Odom said. “I remember those guys warning us that as the one-pot method becomes more popular in our area, we would start to find that the cooks like to be mobile. Sadly, they were right.”

Raley was charged with trafficking a controlled substance, manufacturing a controlled substance II and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was booked into the county jail and held on a $720,000 bond.

Raley is also a current client of the Covington County Drug Court. Star-News archives show Raley was arrested November 2010 for possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a controlled substance. Sanctions for a new arrest for a drug court client can be as minimal as a set amount of time in jail up to expulsion from the program, Odom said.