Monday, a traffic stop on a Chocowinity man turned up a high-grade version of methamphetamine called “ice.”

The street name from the drug comes from its crystalline appearance, which law enforcement hasn’t seen in Beaufort County until now, according to Lt. Russell Davenport, head of the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office Drug Unit.

“Ice, you can look at it and it just looks like ice — it’s just so clear,” Davenport said. “Most of the stuff we get here is cooked in a meth lab. It’s more powdery; it’s got different colors. You can see a big difference. … You can look at it and pretty much tell that that was not made around here.”

Davenport said the methamphetamine seized in Monday’s traffic stop is likely made in what’s called a “superlab,” and believes its origin is  Mexico, for a simple reason: in Mexico, there are no restrictions on the purchase of pseudoephedrine, a nasal/sinus decongestant that is the primary ingredient in the manufacture of the meth. Pseudoephedrine is “cooked” with other ingredients that may include a toxic and combustible cocktail of battery acid, drain cleaner, lantern fuel and antifreeze.

In the U.S., measures have been taken to both limit, and track, the sale of pseudoephedrine. In North Carolina, sales of pseudoephedrine products are restricted to two packages per month to persons over the age of 18, with the presentation of a purchaser’s valid ID, name, address and signature, according to the Methamphetamine Lab Prevention Act of 2005. Retailers are also required to enter those sales into the National Precursor Log Exchange (NPLEx), a tracking system administered by the National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators (NADDI).

After Monday’s stop, investigators arrested Billy Dwayne Ellison Jr., of Old New Bern Road, Chocowinity, when the drug unit’s K-9 Elza alerted to the vehicle. Three plastic bags containing crystal meth were found in the trunk, along with digital scales, glass pipes used to smoke meth and plastic bags used to repackage methamphetamine, Davenport said. Ellison was charged with possession with intent to sell and deliver methamphetamine, maintaining a vehicle to store/keep a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, and was held at the Beaufort County Detention Center under a $40,000 secured bond.

Tracking the manufacture and sale of meth has become a large part of the drug unit’s job over the past two years.

“We’re now having the problems with meth that we have with heroin, cocaine, pills. Meth is here now,” Davenport said.