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Sunday
Task force officers were called out Sunday night, May 3, to a vacant home off Highway Y, north of Gerald, after deputies investigated a report of a possible burglary and found two suspects in the process of cooking meth. The suspects, a 41-year-old Owensville man and a Gerald man, 31, were charged with second-degree burglary and may face additional felony charges.
Monday
Acting on information developed during investigations, Franklin County Narcotics Enforcement Unit (FCNEU) officers went to a mobile home at Hendricks Road and East Linda Lane at Lonedell Monday afternoon and surprised three suspects in two vehicles.
A 31-year-old man and a 19-year old Union woman fled in a pickup truck pursued by officers. They were stopped a short time later and arrested. The man was described as a transient with no known address. In the vehicle was a tank containing anhydrous ammonia and some suspected meth.
Taken into custody at the home were the resident, a 38-year-old man, according to Detective Sgt. Jason Grellner, FCNEU commander.
"We found numerous chemicals and components used to make meth, including eight other tanks containing anhydrous ammonia," Grellner said. Apparently the suspects had just completed making a batch of meth in a detached garage.
Grellner said a fan was set up in a window and was blowing vapors out of the garage. Some suspected finished methamphetamine was seized in the home, he said.
While officers were on the scene, a 35-year-old woman who lives at the home arrived and was taken into custody, according to Grellner. A minor child was turned over to DFS, he said.
Tuesday
FCNEU officers responded to a home off West Elmont Road Tuesday to assist Sullivan police in serving a search warrant in connection with a sexual assault complaint and a report of a possible meth lab. Grellner said a man in his 40s was taken into custody after officers found a meth lab along with chemicals and some suspected meth.
A 16-year-old juvenile in the home was turned over to DFS personnel, he said.
The house was guarded by an array of surveillance cameras placed around the outside, Grellner said.
Wednesday
A woman in her 40s was taken into custody Wednesday when FCNEU officers and an agent with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms went to investigate a complaint of shots fired, Grellner said. The officers saw meth-making components outside the home and obtained a search warrant.
Inside, they seized an illegal sawed-off rifle along with some suspected meth and various chemicals and apparatus, Grellner said.
Investigators are still looking to question a male suspect who lives at the house, he noted.
Thursday
Three juveniles - a 15-year-old girl, an 8-month-old baby and a 13-year-old boy - were turned over to the DFS after officers investigated reports of meth lab activity at a home off of Deep Valley Drive south of Highway 100 and east of Route V.
When officers arrived, they questioned a man in his 40s who was living in a camping trailer at the home.
"There were numerous meth-making items and equipment strewn around the property," Grellner said.
As officers were speaking with the suspect, the owner of the property, the man renting the house and a third suspect arrived and were questioned. Grellner said the property owner was not involved in the activity.
The tenant was arrested and is facing charges of a felon in possession of a firearm, possession of marijuana and child endangerment.
Two other men were taken into custody on possible charges of possession of methamphetamine and possession of precursor chemicals with intent to manufacture meth, according to Grellner.
Grellner described conditions in the home as "disgusting." Officers called in personnel from the county's building department and health department to inspect the house which is going to be condemned, he said.
In all of the cases, suspects were renting or leasing the homes. Grellner said the task force will be pushing to have them evicted.
In most of the cases, the suspects were questioned, booked and released pending a decision on issuing felony charges.
