Drug Task Force agents uncovered the first methamphetamine lab of 2009 Tuesday, and as a result, an Andalusia man now faces charges of trafficking and first-degree manufacturing of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Michael Weaver, 35, is accused of operating the meth lab in the Straughn Community, DTF agent Chris Byrd said Wednesday.

The discovery, he said, was made possible through several anonymous tips from citizens.

“This has been an ongoing investigation for at least a year,” Byrd said. “We had received several reports — all anonymous — from citizens who suspected that illegal drug activity was happening at the residence. And they were right.”

Inside the home, agents located all the necessary ingredients of a meth lab — including bi-layered liquid or meth oil, as it is more often called; red phosphorus; muriatic acid; and other paraphernalia, Byrd said.

The investigation is ongoing and more arrests are expected, he said. Weaver is currently in the Covington County Jail under a $770,000 bond.

It was the first meth lab discovered in 2009, and while agents still maintain the most prevalent drug problem in the county is prescription pill abuse, the search for meth labs has not waned.

“Prescription drug abuse is still at an all time high, and at this point is worse than the county’s meth problem,” Byrd said. “It doesn’t negate that meth is a strong addition and breaking the habit is hard to do without the right help.

“DTF agents are still committed to seeking out meth labs as strongly as when the meth problem was at its all time high,” he said. “We want people to know the DTF, or any law enforcement agency, can’t do the job alone. It takes the citizens of this county to step forward with information to lead us in the right direction.”

Anyone who has information concerning illegal drug activity in the community or suspicions of it in their neighborhoods is asked to call the DTF office at 334-222-3532.