Posted: Sun, 19 Sep 2010 05:00 PM - 14,060 Readers

By: Daniel Bramlette

A search of a boat on Lake Travis that appeared in bad condition revealed even more problems inside.

LCRA Police were inspecting the boat docked in a cove near Sandy Creek Park in Volente for safety reasons.  As they started their inspection, officers say a man named Arthur Sanders approached them and said the boat was his.

The officers questioned Sanders briefly, asking him if he had been drinking, which he denied. Officers say they saw Sanders holding a beer as he approached the boat but he dropped it when he saw them. They asked him if he'd smoked any illegal drugs and Sanders replied that he had some marijuana hidden in a coffee can on the boat.

When Sanders took the officers to the front of the boat to show them the marijuana, they say they also saw chemicals and supplies commonly used to make methamphetamines.

At that point the LCRA officers called for backup from the Travis County Sheriff's Office VICE Unit. A deputy arrived and while he was getting briefed on what the first officers found, another man walked up and asked what was going on.


That man was 47-year-old Dalton Amburgey.  Amburgey told officers he owned the boat and that Arthur Sanders was a carpenter he hired to work on fixing it up. Amburgey denied knowing anything about the marijuana that had been found. Amburgey refused to let the deputy search the boat further without a search warrant.

After a warrant was obtained, the search continued. Deputies say they found a bottle of iodine, propane, Tyvek suits, and other materials consistent with meth production.  They also found a sawed-off 12 gauge Remington shotgun.

Deputies had the boat moved from the cove, across the lake to Erickson's Marine on Hudson Bend. From there, the Sheriff's Office's Clandestine Lab Team inspected the boat to confirm if it was being used as a meth lab.

After that inspection it was determined there was some evidence of meth production but not enough to meet the legal requirements to charge Amburgey. Investigators do believe he owned the shotgun, though, as well as the marijuana.

Investigators researched Amburgey's criminal history and found several arrests on various drug charges, including one related to making meth.  They found a previous conviction for Unlawfully Carrying a Weapon.  Amburgey had served time and was released in 2008.

Dalton Amburgey was then arrested and charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, and two misdemeanor drug charges.  He was booked at the Travis County Correctional Complex with a $25,000 bond.