Four arrested, meth lab reported

While checking on the welfare of two small children Tuesday, police reported finding a meth lab in the basement of a Dickson Avenue home.

METRICH was called to investigate the scene at 275 W. Dickson Ave., and officers found two one-pot shake-andbakes in plastic 20-ounce bottles, Detective Perry Wheeler said.

"We found all the components necessary to manufacture meth. You've got sodium hydroxide, you've got sulfuric acid,Coleman fuel, lithium metal, and we have some finished product," Wheeler said.

Four men and three women were inside the home at the time of the raid, along with a 2-year-old child and a 6-month-old.

All four men were charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, and two of the men will be charged with Illegal manufacturing and assembly, both felonies, according to Wheeler. Charges will be filed through the Richland County Prosecutor's Office.

"There will be an open case with children's services. The children will not be able to go back into the residence," Perry said. "The residence will have to be decontaminated and cleaned with bleach water. ... We're going to put signs up that say this is a contaminated residence."

Originally published in the News Journal on November 17, 2015.