Police raid home, find 12 meth labs

LANCASTER – A husband and wife are in custody after the Lancaster Police Special Response Team and Major Crimes Unit raided a home, uncovering a significant meth lab operation on South Broad Street Tuesday morning.

The Major Crimes unit confiscated 12 one-pot meth labs, including one active vessel from the couple's home at 898 S. Broad St.

"It was pretty extensive," said Major Crimes Unit Commander Eric Brown. "There were one-pot vessels, assorted chemicals and product."

A combination of liquid and solid meth product was found in the home, Brown said. What was more concerning than the amount of product and chemicals, he said, was that there was an active meth lab when officers arrived.

"When you have an active (meth lab) and you have a tactical team entering, there's lots of hazards with those," he said. "(They could) knock it down, or kick it on accident ..."

The chemicals combined to create meth are unstable, Brown explained, which can result in explosions or flash fires if the vessel isn't handled properly.

The couple is in custody at the Fairfield County Jail, but they have not yet been charged with a crime. Brown said he expected investigators to file charges soon, but they had not been filed by press time.

The amount of meth found also was not available. Brown said investigators still need to weigh each product to determine the quantity they confiscated from the home.

He said there were many complaints surrounding the couple's property about alleged drug activity. He said they were thankful officers had raided the home.

"We had a lot of neighbors come out and thank us for helping them," he said.

While there were no children at the home at the time of the raid, there are two children who were living at the residence. Brown said investigators are working with Fairfield County Child Protective Services to find them a place to stay.

sroush@lancastereaglegazette.com

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