Two Lebanon residents nabbed in meth lab case

An MDEA haz-mat team member appears to check on a substance while other agents look on outside a mobile home on Hersom Lane on Wednesday. Some agents' faces are intentionally blurred to protect their identity. (Windy Rudnicki photos)

LEBANON - Two Lebanon residents were arrested on Tuesday for allegedly operating a meth lab out of their Hersom Lane home.

Maine DEA agents, armed with a search warrant, say they found a number of one-pot methamphetamine laboratories as well as the ingredients and components required for manufacturing methamphetamine at the suspects' home at 13 Hersom Lane.

Dana Lovely, 39, and Carin Polk, 52, were both charged with felony trafficking in methamphetamine.

For the past month agents from the York District Task Force had conducted an investigation into the illegal manufacturing of methamphetamine at the residence, according to a Wednesday press release.

DEA haz-mat team prepares to enter a mobile home on Hersom Lane and Lebanon Firefighters stand by.

On Tuesday around 10:30 pm, agents and troopers from the Maine State Police executed a search warrant and located a number of one pot methamphetamine laboratories.

Upon discovery of the laboratories, agents immediately secured the residence and evacuated both Lovely and Polk, who were then arrested and transported to the York County Jail without incident.

Due to the extremely toxic and explosive nature of methamphetamine manufacturing, Maine Drug Enforcement Agency's Clandestine Laboratory Enforcement Team (CDLET) was activated and responded in order to safely dismantle and seize the clandestine laboratories.

On Wednesday around noon, the team re-entered the residence utilizing special safety equipment and removed three, one-pot methamphetamine laboratories. Each lab was in a distinct and separate stage in the manufacturing process, the press release noted.

DEA haz-mat team enters a mobile home on Hersom Lane in Lebanon on Wednesday.

The labs were dismantled retaining items of evidentiary value for prosecution. The toxic byproducts and components were seized for destruction by the State's Department of Environmental Protection. Other items required to manufacture methamphetamine were also seized as evidence.

Agents will continue the investigation and present its case to the State's Attorney General's office regarding additional charges of manufacturing methamphetamine, as well as for those identified as providing Pseudoephedrine - a key ingredient needed in the manufacturing process - to Lovely and Polk.

Assisting MDEA in dismantling of the labs were Maine State Police, Maine DEP and the Lebanon Fire Department.

This is the third Methamphetamine Laboratory related incident MDEA has responded to this year. MDEA responded to 28 Methamphetamine Laboratory related incidents in 2014.

Anyone who has information concerning this investigation or other suspected drug trafficking, please contact the MDEA field office nearest you, or call the MDEA Drug Tip Hotline at 800-452-6457.

Indicator denotes area of 13 Hersom Lane, Lebanon. (Courtesy Yahoo maps)