Hiawatha police find mobile meth lab

HIAWATHA - Police discovered active meth labs after making a traffic stop early Wednesday morning.

According to Hiawatha Police Chief Dennis Marks, officers made a traffic stop at 1:05 a.m. Wednesday after witnessing the driver, later identified as 25-year-old Keesha Tu, driving without her headlights on. Marks said when officers approached the vehicle, they saw items typically used in the manufacturing of meth.

'They were able to seize some things and discovered a couple of active labs,” Marks said.

Marks said there were two other people in the car and one of them, 29-year-old Michael Berckes, was arrested with Tu. Both Tu and Berkes are from Cedar Rapids.

Both Tu and Berckes face charges of manufacturing meth and possession of meth precursors. Tu faces additional charges of driving while revoked, possession of drug paraphernalia, providing false identification and driving without headlights. Tu and Berckes were also wanted on warrants for unrelated incidents, Marks said.