Cazenovia police this week found a backpack containing a portable meth lab behind a garage on Mill Street in the village.

The backpack contained all the common items used in the manufacture of methamphetamine in what is called the “shake and bake” method, where the drug is created in a plastic bottle — in this case, a 1-liter plastic soda bottle.

“It looked like a failed attempt at cooking meth; the bottle had collapsed in on itself because there was not enough oxygen [for the process],” said Cazenovia Police Chief Michael Hayes. “It was a lucky failure because usually failures in cooking meth mean death, dismemberment or serious injury from explosion.”

The “shake and bake” method of cooking meth — also called the “one pot” method — is a cheap, quick and popular way to make meth in under an hour in a portable way. The ingredients — items such as household chemicals, lithium from batteries, water and the drug pseudoephedrine — are mixed in a 1- or 2-liter soda bottle or a Gatorade bottle, and shaken up to mix the contents. It creates a relatively small amount of the drug, but enough for personal use or to make some quick money, according to experts.

The shake and bake method is extremely dangerous because the chemicals being mixed together in one step — as opposed to the many steps of the longer method — are extremely volatile, Hayes said. As the contents of the bottle are mixed together by being shaken up, the pressure of the fumes fills the bottle. The bottle must be constantly vented, or else it will explode.

“It’s a lot like crack because it is so easy to manufacture now,” Hayes said. “They can do it in a car, or even in a jacket pocket.”

According to the police report, a Cazenovia police officer found the portable meth lab backpack behind a garage on Mill Street near the library on Dec. 4 and brought it into the police station as found property. Upon inspecting the contents while looking for a possible owner identification, the officer realized the bag appeared to be filled with all the necessary ingredients for the production of methamphetamine.

The officer placed the bag in a secure location in the alley behind the police station and called the Madison County SWAT team, officers of which are trained for such narcotics-related situations, Hayes said. The bag was placed outside the station for officer safety from possible exposure to fumes, but not from possible explosion because the ingredients in the bottle were inert, he said.

A Madison County SWAT officer arrived on the scene and verified that the contents were the makings of a mobile meth lab, after which the New York State Police Contaminated Crime Scene Emergency Response Team (CCSERT) were called to collect and dispose of the materials, Hayes said.

The state police will give the Cazenovia police a full analysis of the contents of the bag as well as any other evidence it discovers after its investigation is complete, Hayes said. Until then, the case is closed because there is simply no evidence for the Cazenovia police department to follow up on, he said.

The amount of meth attempted to be created in the backpack appeared to be a small amount, probably just for personal use, Hayes said.

The police have no indication where the bag came from, whether from someone local or someone passing through the village, he said.

“I’ve never seen this particular thing in Cazenovia,” Hayes said. “But people should not panic. It is what it is, and hopefully there won’t be any repeats. As always, were diligently looking for narcotics and illegal activities and we will continue to do so.”

Jason Emerson is editor of the Cazenovia Republican. He can be reached at editor@cazenoviarepublican.com.