SIUE graduate student charged with making meth in science lab

A former chemistry graduate student at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville faces charges including operating a meth lab on campus.

According to Madison County Court records, an SIUE professor noticed something suspicious in the science building over Thanksgiving break. They said that equipment was left turned on, a beaker was broken, and some chemicals were used or moved. Spectrometer testing of suspicious materials revealed alleged byproducts of meth making.

Campus police investigated and found that only one person, Jeremy Smalling, had electronic access to the science labs on those days. Smalling was an SIUE graduate research assistant at the time. 

SIUE police checked a national database that tracks pseudoephedrine purchases. Investigators said Smalling was listed as attempting 365 pseudoephedrine purchases in the last 10 years and was blocked from purchases 45 times. 

Police got a judge to allow them to put a GPS tracker on Smalling’s car, and the regional drug task force monitored Smalling as he drove to neighboring cities and made purchases of alleged meth-making materials.

On Jan. 10, officers said they watched the suspect enter his apartment with suspected meth-making materials he’d just purchased, and that they noticed the bedroom window was open, even though the outside temperature was 36 degrees. When a search was done on his car that day, authorities said they also found 12 grams of meth.

Officers arrested Smalling and charged him with four felony counts, including aggravated participation in meth making and possession with the intent to deliver.

Smalling, originally from Belleville, graduated with his bachelor’s degree from SIUE in 2019, according to reports. He earned his master’s degree in 2023, and also won the university's chemistry award in 2018.




(Photo siue.edu)