Meth, Porn, Oreo cookies, and Spanish language channels

Open-records requests have revealed that

Burglars occasionally sneaked into and around a Texas fertilizer plant in the years before a massive, deadly explosion — sometimes looking for a chemical fertilizer stored at the plant that can be used to make methamphetamine, according to local sheriff's records.

Sheriff's deputies were called more than 10 times to West Fertilizer in the 11 years before an April 17 blast that killed 14 people, injured 200 and leveled part of the tiny town of West, according to McLennan County sheriff's office files released through an open-records request. Multiple calls involved suspicion that anhydrous ammonia was being stolen.

So, is it likely that some methheads were the cause of the explosion? Nah, Mexico is supplying us with all the meth we need:

Matt Cawthon, the chief deputy sheriff in McLennan County, said in an interview Friday that anhydrous ammonia theft calls had declined in recent years, as had the number of meth labs authorities have busted as Mexican drug cartels are smuggling in more of the drug.

In more recent calls, an employee had noticed signs that someone had gone through the office without taking anything. In one 2009 record, someone reported that the TV in the office was left on a Spanish-language channel. The year before, an intruder appeared to have viewed pornography on a secretary's computer.

In another 2009 record, Cody Dragoo — a plant employee and first responder who died fighting the fire — called authorities to report two men who were seen on the plant's security tape entering part of the facility. The only things found missing were a cabinet lock and a box of Oreo cookies, according to a report. It's unclear if the men were identified or arrested.

My job here at Bob's Blog is just to report the facts. I don't make this stuff up.