METH LAB BUST DIMINISHES SUPPLY

ARGOS - The peace of rural Argos was broken Tuesday afternoon as
police officers swarmed the property at 15706 Lilac Rd, Argos during
a large methamphetamine lab bust.

No arrests were made in conjunction with the meth lab and the tenant
who lives at the residence is still at-large.

Argos Police Chief Ed Barcus had been working with the Drug Task
Force and Deputy Les McFarland on this particular case for some time.
Many of the officers had the same names and information that
continued to point to the residence on Lilac Road, he said.

"With the information we've been getting, this will put a big damper
on the supply in the Argos area," said Barcus.

On Tuesday morning, officers, including Barcus and McFarland, went to
the home to obtain license plate numbers of the vehicles in the
driveway. McFarland believes that anyone who might have been inside
the house vacated as soon as the officers left. When they arrived
back on the scene, officers spotted an active meth lab through the
back door of the house.

By 11:30 a.m. officers had a search warrant for the property and the
Indiana State Police Clandestine Lab Team was called onto the scene.

Meth ingredients were scattered throughout the entire house and in a
small, red shed in the back yard, said ISP Detective Mark Senter.
While investigating the scene, officers had to step over glass
bottles containing blue liquid - meth that was in the process of
"cooking" in the back room.

"It's a big, big lab. It's a pretty good supply," said McFarland. In
the home, there were signs of recent and frequent drug use and items
for manufacturing meth such as scales and packaging materials, he added.

Officers learned that the entire area outside of the house was under
surveillance with video cameras on the doors, windows and the smoke
stack on the roof of the house. Inside, a large television captured
scenes from the outside of the house. A small television in the shed
was also wired to the cameras. "That makes it dangerous for us," said
Barcus "They know exactly where we are, but we don't know where the
heck they are."

Inside, officers also found $1,200 to $1,500 in cash stashed in a
fake book, marijuana, and a nine-millimeter rifle. "If they would
have been home, we might have had our hands full. The guns were ready
to go," said Barcus.

The tenant had also been trying to dispose of evidence by burning
items, such as batteries, in a barrel behind the shed in the back yard.

While the officers were at the house, Domingo Robles, 26, of Plymouth
arrived at the residence and was arrested for possession of marijuana.

The house is owned by Don Gray of Argos, the nearest neighbor to the
residence, and is currently up for sale.

"It's just another example that it's [meth] in our own backyards,"
said McFarland. "People need to know what's going on."

Officers documented and photographed evidence from inside the house
while waiting for a chemical company from Fort Wayne to arrive and
dispose of the materials.

Officers also called the Plymouth Fire Department to request the use
of a ladder. While trying to search the house, they were unable to
locate an entrance to the attic from the interior of the house.