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Updated 8 hours ago
Members of the Westmoreland County Drug Task Force seized evidence of methamphetamine manufacturing Thursday from a home in St. Clair Township.
Investigators believe the suspect, a man who lives in the mobile home on Hoover Street, had a small-scale meth-cooking operation inside, said Latrobe Police Detective John Sleasman, the task force field director.
Police seized lighter fluid, ephedrine, used lithium batteries, syringes and other evidence.
Charges had not been filed as of late Thursday afternoon. Authorities were searching for the suspect.
Methamphetamine is a powerful, highly addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The drug is easily made in small laboratories using over-the-counter ingredients such as pseudoephedrine, commonly found in cold medications, combined with chemicals such as antifreeze, fertilizer and lithium.
A warning notice taped to the mobile home in a residential area just outside Seward in northeastern Westmoreland County said “a clandestine laboratory for the manufacture of illegal drugs and/or hazardous chemicals was seized” there. Investigators bagged evidence from inside the home and documented it as they stood in the snow-covered yard.
Sleasman said police were led to the home by complaints from neighbors. Investigators believe the suspect was selling meth.
“There was a lot of people coming and going there, staying for short times,” Sleasman said.
After an investigation, the task force went to the home Thursday morning with a search warrant. They found the evidence and a female with a health issue. She was taken to a hospital, Sleasman said.
Neighbor Mark Leap was happy to see police there to diffuse a potentially dangerous situation involving chemicals.
“Our oil tank's on that side of the house, too,” he said. “So if that trailer went up, our house would go up.”
The houses sit close together in the neighborhood near the Conemaugh River, and it's normally quiet, Leap said.
“I kind of figured something was up over there,” he said.
Renatta Signorini is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 724-837-5374 or rsignorini@tribweb.com.
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