Four people were arrested Monday for allegedly trafficking methamphetamine after state police dismantled a meth lab in Phillips, according to a news release.
Jason Fowler, 39, of Chesterville, Michael Halle, 45, of Phillips, Erin Smith, 42, of Ocala, Fla., and Kimberly Webber, 25, of Vienna, were arrested and charged with trafficking methamphetamine during the course of the investigation, according to a news release from Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.
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A Facebook post by the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency said law enforcement agencies had been investigating a report of possible meth manufacturing for several weeks, and Fowler and Webber had previously been identified as suspects in the case.
On Monday, at 7:18 p.m., Detective Ken Charles of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department spotted Fowler driving with a suspended license along Route 4 and pulled him over, according to Franklin County Sheriff Scott Nichols.
During the traffic stop, Charles found material allegedly used to make meth and called the MDEA to the scene. Fowler and Webber were both arrested.
The agents and deputies then went to a house at 1495 Rangeley Road, also Route 4, in Phillips, where Halle and Smith were residing and more of the drug was discovered, according to the release.
The house in Phillips is owned by Halle, according to the release.
Maine Drug Enforcement agents worked Tuesday to dismantle the lab at the Rangeley Road home as well as the equipment in the Jeep, according to the release. The Jeep was impounded by the sheriff’s department.
A third location in Chesterville where items from manufacturing had been dumped was also searched, according to the release.
The four people charged were taken to Franklin County Dentention Center and will appear in court on Wednesday.
If found guilty, the class B charge of trafficking schedule W drugs is punishable by up to 10 years incarceration and a $20,000 fine.
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Farmington and Phillips fire departments and Northstar Emergency Medical Services assisted in the investigation.
Officials said the raid brings the state total of methamphetimine labs raided to 17 for the year, three shy of the state’s record for a calendar year.
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