5 arrested in Bladen County meth lab bust
BLADEN COUNTY, NC (WECT) - A multi-agency investigation led to a meth lab bust in Bladen County late Thursday night.
According to officials with the Bladen County Sheriff's Office, an anonymous tip helped authorities investigate a meth lab that was being operated at a home in the 1100 block of Bethel Church Road near Dublin.
Five people were arrested and charged with manufacturing methamphetamine and booked into the Bladen County Jail under $100,000 bonds each. Those arrested were:
- Andy Holder Walters, 46, of Tar Heel
- Franklin Neal Taylor, 40, of Elizabethtown
- James Crawford Johnson, 41, of Elizabethtown, NC
- Monica Reaves Britt, 31, of Tar Heel
- Sandie Shaw Britt, 34, of Whiteville
Officials expect additional charges to be filed against the suspects.
The SBI's Clandestine Laboratory Response Team was brought in to clear up the meth lab and secure the scene.
"These labs can be very dangerous...they can be dangerous for those 'cooking' the meth, dangerous to the community and dangerous to officers," explained Sheriff James A. McVicker. "We always treat them as a toxic environment."
McVicker has a warning for anyone else running meth labs in Bladen County.
"We are aware of other labs in the county and are actively working to shut them down," McVicker said. "Investigations such as this take some time to come to a point where we can make arrests but we are zeroing in on several possible labs hope to shut them down very soon."
The White Lake Police Department and the NC Highway Patrol assisted in the investigation.
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