Police in Luzerne County believe they busted a drug lab.

Officers tell Newswatch 16 they raided an apartment building along Route 11 in Salem Township Tuesday afternoon.

Authorities said Eric Simons and Heather Pollick were arrested on charges unrelated to the alleged methamphetamine lab.

Police said a probation officer visited Pollick and found some suspicious items, including three shotguns in the apartment.

There is no word from police on when charges related to the suspected drug lab may be filed.

State police in the Monroe County are searching for two people suspected of running a methamphetamine lab inside their home near Effort.

Troopers said a little after 9 p.m. Tuesday domestic relations officers arrived at a home on Park Drive in the Sun Valley community near Effort. They were looking for someone inside the house.

Troopers were immediately called.

A response team that specializes in cleaning up meth labs also came in to help.

Victor Sobrado lives near the home and heard the commotion.

“They were just standing there. I went up there and told them thank you, you know, ‘You guys are doing a great job. I’m happy you’re here.’  Because if it’s what I think it is, I’m glad it’s getting out of the neighborhood,” said Sobrado.

State police said the response team found evidence of a methamphetamine lab inside the home. They spent hours taking it apart.

“Get them out of the neighborhood because we don’t need it in our neighborhood. We’ve got kids. We’ve got kids and the elderly people live here also,” Sobrado added.

State police said they are looking for two people they believe were running the meth lab out of the home.

Troopers would not say who they are looking for because the investigation is ongoing.

Neighbors in one Monroe County community say they are shocked after police believe two people in their community were cooking the powerful drug methamphetamine while caring for their toddler.

Neighbors are also concerned the crime is giving their community a bad reputation.

Neighbors living near the home in the community of A Pocono Country Place are upset and in disbelief after Pocono Mountain Regional Police said they discovered a fully-operational meth lab inside.

“Scary. Would have never thought or suspected,” said Eddie Wood of Tobyhanna.

Police said Brian Eyet and Michelle Casella, both of Tobyhanna, were cooking and distributing methamphetamine while caring for their 15-month-old son.

“Probably can’t say it on camera. Probably should euthanize the parents,” said Wood.

“It’s shock. It really is shocking because they’re very quiet people, you never see them,” said Mike Stroessner of Tobyhanna.

Police said on Sunday night they came to the home where Eyet and Casella live to investigate the welfare of a child.

When they arrived officers said they found marijuana in the home and a suspected meth lab in the garage.

Police said the meth was in the “cooking” stage, which is when it’s most volatile and hazardous.

The state police, the fire department and ambulance crews were immediately called in for back up.

Police interviewed Eyet and Casella. Casella admitted she bought Sudafed products, a key ingredient to make meth, because Eyet “had a cold.”

Casella also admitted she knew Eyet was cooking meth but didn’t know it was going on in her house.

“This is a wonderful place to live. I wouldn’t live anywhere else but in this Pocono County Place. We always get a bad rap. I don’t want one bad apple to destroy us all,” said Stroessner.

“This is an awesome place. It just gets a bad rap. It really does,” said Wood.

Both Brian Eyet and Michelle Casella are in the Monroe County Jail.

Each is facing numerous drug charges plus endangering the welfare of their child.

Their son is in protective custody.

Two people are in custody accused of making methamphetamine in Luzerne County.

Police said Chris Cragle and Shannon Lewis were taken into custody Tuesday morning at a trailer along Route 118 near Red Rock.

The meth operation’s home base was located at a property along Route 118 in Luzerne County east of Ricketts Glen State Park, said investigators with the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office.

A lab team went to work marking evidence and dismantling the meth lab that was discovered early Tuesday. Christopher Cragle and his girlfriend Shannon Lewis cooked there as recently as Monday night, according to investigators.

“He cooks at various locations in Sweet Valley sometimes here, sometimes other places. We know he cooked here last night and we served a warrant here today,” said John Soprano, regional director with the PA Attorney General’s Office.

Hours later, Cragle and Lewis were cuffed and led away to face charges, including manufacturing meth, risking catastrophe and more.

Cragle rents the trailer where the bust was made and the landlord said it was a surprise to have police raid the property.

“It was just a surprise because there was no traffic or anything, a total shock this morning when police knocked on the door,” said Walter O’Hara.

Both Cragle and Lewis are locked up in Luzerne County on $20,000 bail.

Investigators said they were found with about four pounds of meth oil, which is meth in one of the final processing stages.

Police in Berwick are still looking for two men suspected of causing the explosion that set an apartment building on fire last week.

The blaze forced eight people out of their homes, and police said the two men were making methamphetamine in the basement.

Brittany Sager and her family spent the day Monday moving into a new home after the fire Friday morning forced her and her three children from their apartment in Berwick. Sager said she heard her smoke detector around 2:30 a.m.

“I went in the bedroom to get the kids up, and my neighbor was knocking on the window. I handed her the baby through the window and I took the boys out through the door. I called 911 and said, ‘Hey our house is on fire,’” said Sager.

Berwick police filed arrest warrants for two men who they said are responsible for setting the fire. Police plan to charge Robert Fowler and Perry Harmon with producing drugs in the basement of the building as well as arson.

“That’s based on the explosion. The explosion created a fire and that fire created property damage in excess of $5,000,” said Ked Strish of the Berwick Police Department.

According to police, witnesses saw Fowler and Harmon inside the basement of the apartment before the fire started.  After the explosion, another witness saw the two fleeing the building.

That doesn’t sit well with other people who lived in the building.

“They knew my kids were here and why they did it?  I don’t understand why they did it because they know I have my three kids here. I don’t know what they were thinking,” Sager added.

She and her children found a new place to live. She said some of her neighbors weren’t so lucky.

Police in Berwick are looking for Fowler and Harmon and said there may be more people involved.  Anyone with information about Fowler and Harmon is asked to call Berwick police at 570-752-3677.

A man and his son were arrested Tuesday morning when officers raided what they called a methamphetamine lab in Wilkes-Barre.

Around 10:30 a.m. police raided a home on Church Street in south Wilkes-Barre. They were soon followed by officers in protective gear going throughout the house. 

Officials said they found meth cooking in the basement.

Police took three people into custody, the father and son and a 16-year-old girl. Police said  Jeff Deyo cooked the meth and his son, Jeff Junior, sold it. The girl is a runaway from Nanticoke.

Crews spent most of the day dismantling the lab. Agents said they found a toddler’s bedroom upstairs, and a baby carriage and other toys were visible in the backyard.  Keith Longfoot lives next door.

“They have a little kid that I’ve seen here, you know, on the weekends and stuff so it kind of comes as a shock they would put a kid in danger like that,” said neighbor Keith Longfoot.

The Deyos are now in custody. Officials said they will be charged with manufacturing methamphetamine in the presence of children, which carries serious penalties.

Officials are still trying to find out why the 16-year-old girl was here. As of now, only the father and son are facing charges.

Police were on the scene of yet another methamphetamine lab in Columbia County Wednesday,  this time on North Vine Street in Berwick.

Specially trained state troopers wore protective clothing and air tanks so they would not become contaminated from what police said was in the  house.

Authorities said they discovered the makings of a meth lab inside the house.

Police kept the curious away with yellow tape.

All the activity made neighbor Tiffany Roberts nervous. “It makes me feel for other kids around here because they’re dangerous, very dangerous the meth labs. There have been so many in Berwick.” Roberts said.

Berwick police said since the beginning of the year they have found six working meth labs or ingredients to make the illegal drug.

It can be dangerous. Officials said a meth explosion in a home started a fire earlier this month. Authorities said the potential of danger is always there.

Debi Hoskins lives nearby and the increase in meth labs worries her.  “It’s crazy, it’s crazy. My nephews are here and what would have happened if it did explode? What would I have found when I got here?” Hoskins asked.

Neighbor Jordan Tongel said he knows why people make meth. “Probably   money and because they’re stupid and they don’t have jobs and this is  the way to get money and stuff,” Tongel said.

Berwick police said it is unclear why their community seems to be a magnet as far as meth labs, but they have found some in the past and expect to find more in the future.

Three people were taken into custody Friday, and investigators said at least two of them will be charged with making methamphetamine in a school zone.

Police raided the home on Beekman Street in Wilkes-Barre just after daybreak.

Police confirm Sarah Noble and Paul Grodis will be charged with making the drug meth in a school zone.

Court documents show both suspects have been trouble with the law before, for possessing meth.

Agents in protective suits began searching the home on Beekman Street just after daybreak. It’s the second meth lab bust in 10 days in the city of Wilkes-Barre, but officials said the two are not connected.

Police said they arrested Grodis and Noble, who will be charged with making the drug within a school zone. Directly across the street from the home is the Luzerne County Head Start building, an intervention and daycare for young children.

Three people were taken into custody when police raided a home in Wilkes-Barre where, they said, methamphetamine was being made.Three people are in custody after authorities said they found a meth lab at a home in Wilkes-Barre.

“We had no idea. It’s very scary to think that it’s happening so close to where the students are, but I’m just glad it was promptly taking care of they did a great job. It really attests to the police force that it was taken care of before school even started,” said teacher Amanda Clark.

Officials said the investigation only lasted a couple of weeks. They said they wanted to move in as quickly as possible because of the home’s location to the Head Start center right across the street.”I think that’s one of the problems with the meth lab. You put them in a neighborhood and it’s dangerous, and you compound that with the Head Start day care here and it makes it even more dangerous,” said John Soprano of the attorney general’s office.

One next door neighbor to the raided home said he realized something wasn’t quite right after the suspects moved in two months ago.

“All of a sudden I just noticed cars coming in, hand to hand transactions, and nobody staying to visit. It’s a tell-tale sign of something’s going on especially when they are different cars coming in all of the time,” said neighbor Justin Weber.

BERWICK — Police in Columbia County are dismantling what they call a large drug lab.

Police responded Wednesday morning to the 400 block of West Front Street in Berwick.

Crews are expected to be at the suspected methamphetamine lab all afternoon.

The Berwick police chief said about a dozen people may face charges.

BERWICK — Ten people were arrested in Columbia County. Police said these people, including three teenagers, were involved in a larger-scale drug-making lab they found in Berwick.

The people are Fred Smith, Billy Fishcer, Ed Kelesse, Gary Slusser, Ashley Titman, Stormie Ungureit, Chris Starr, and the juveniles whose names are not being released.

The youngest one is 14 years old.

West Front Street in Berwick was blocked off for four hours as police investigated the meth lab at a home.

It was a scene that concerned neighbors, including Jacqueline Bourn.

“I heard someone yell ‘Put your hands up. Get down. Get down,’ and I heard a girl scream,” said Bourn of Berwick.

When police got to the house they said they found an active methamphetamine lab and people inside, including three teenagers. The youngest was 14.

It’s not clear how many of them lived in the house but police said they have charged all 10 people.

“It was actually still in the process of being produced as well as some residual waste from some previous cooks. So it could be a larger-sized scale for meth labs,” said Berwick Police Chief Ken Strish.

“I feel a little bit ticked off. It’s like, who do these people think they are coming to town, cook this drug, things like that? I mean, we have children,” said Angel Edwards of Berwick.

Neighbors have been watching this scene all day and said, based on the foot traffic they’ve seen coming in and out of that house over the past few months, they’re not surprised that something illegal was going on there.

“Just like, assaults out on the sidewalk and a lot of traffic. The whole neighborhood would call it the drug house,” said Bourn.

Police said they’ve been gathering information about activity at the home for a while. They said it’s one of at least six meth labs they’ve found in the borough since December.

Six of the people charged were arraigned on Wednesday night. The seventh, Chris Starr is supposed to be arraigned on Thursday.

BERWICK — Police said meth labs are popping up all over Columbia County, but authorities believe one reason so many are being found in Berwick is because the communtiy is close to the cities of Hazleton and Wilkes-Barre.

Police said the meth lab at the home on West Front Street in Berwick is at least the sixth one found in the borough since December. Ten people were arrested, including three teenagers. Authorites said methamphetamine is addictive and easy to make.

“Most of the ingredients, if not all of the ingredients, can be bought at local stores. Individually they all have a legitimate use,” said John Soprano, the regional director of the Attorney General’s Narcotics Bureau.

Sudafedrin is one of the main ingredients used to make meth. It’s the same ingredient found in congestion medicine, such as sudafed. Another ingredient needed for the meth is iodine, which you can also find at local drug stores.

“Story related from a local pharmacist where four people came together in a car, all came into the pharmacy, all came in to buy sudafedrin. They didn’t all have colds,” said Columbia County District Attorney Thomas Liepold.

Authorities said one of the reasons this keeps happening in Berwick is because it’s so close to Wilkes-Barre and Hazleton, where there are lots of pharmacies for people to buy the ingredients needed to cook the meth.

Pharmacies limit the amount of sudafedrin one person can buy at a time, so authorities say it takes several people going to several pharmacies to get the amount needed to make meth.

“It takes literally an army of people. We refer to them as smurfs. Who go out and hit the pharmacies far and wide to accumulate as much sudafedrin as possible,” said Liepold.

Police also believe more people are becoming educated about meth so they’re reporting possible labs more often.

The Columbia County District Attorney’s office and the Attorney General’s office are now teaming up to create a task force that will specifically target meth.

WILKES-BARRE — Police in Luzerne County are investigating what they call a suspected mobile meth lab that officers found Friday in Wilkes-Barre.

Around 4:00 p.m., authorities said they pulled a black car over on East Lafayette Place in Wilkes-Barre.  Police arrested two men and a woman but had no comment on how the people may be related to the bust.

According to police, they were taken to Wilkes-Barre Police Headquarters.

Police blocked off East Lafayette Place for hours as officers searched the car and the surrounding area.

Wilkes-Barre Police and state police are working together in the investigation. 

MOUNT CARMEL — Authorities in Northumberland county spent most of Tuesday afternoon at a home investigating a possible drug lab.

Police and fire crews were at a home near the corner of South Beech Street and West Sixth Street in Mount Carmel working to decontaminate the suspected methamphetamine lab.

Mount Carmel police said officials stumbled upon the suspected meth lab at 244 South Beech Street as they were serving a probation warrant and a sheriff’s warrant on the people living in the home.

Investigators in Mount Carmel arrested a man and his girlfriend Tuesday who they suspect were cooking meth in their South Beech Street home.

Jason Hunsinger, 33, and Kimberly Metcalf, 30, were arrested for the warrants and police said they will be charged in connection with the suspected meth lab.

“I never really knew there were drugs down there. I was surprised,” said Zach Camacho of Mount Carmel who lives down the street from the suspected lab.

“That’s scary, I mean there’s a lot of kids on that street. My little brother and sister used to live on that street,” said Valerie Bendas of Marion Heights.

Eight rowhomes were evacuated while investigators cleaned out the home with the suspected meth lab.

Police said if that lab had caught fire or there had been an explosion, many could have been seriously hurt, even killed.

“Especially in this town, they’re all rowhomes. I mean fire starts in one, you’re going to lose half the block,” said neighbor Tim Weaver.

“One wrong thing and just the fire itself could set off a firestorm, half a block of homes, a meth lab only doubles, triples that threat,” said Behay.

PITTSTON — A fire led authorities to a meth lab in Luzerne County.

Police said the flames broke out as the man was making the illegal drug.

According to court papers, Kevin Hall of Mocanaqua was making methamphetamine in the basement of a duplex in Pittston Wednesday night when it caught fire. It happened just after 8 p.m.

When fire crews finished putting the fire out, police officers were helping to make sure no one was inside. They said that`s when they discovered the meth lab in the basement and called in investigators from the state.

The State Attorney General`s office talked with people who had been in the duplex at the time of the fire, and learned that Hall had been in the basement around the time the fire started.

Investigators said that they found Hall sometime on Thursday, hiding in a cemetery in Pittston.

Hall is charged with possession, manufacturing of a controlled substance, and causing a catastrophe.

The AG`s office said Hall was out on bail for identical charges in Mocanaqua and was awaiting sentencing.

They said he`s also a suspect in a meth lab bust in nearby Jenkins Township earlier this week.

Many neighbors we spoke with on Tompkins Street in the city said they didn`t know what was going on inside the home and were concerned after fire crews arrived Wednesday night.

“Scared, scared, but I`m glad my three daughters are all grown and not living around this area, but it’s scary,” said Susan Aker, a neighbor.

Hall is locked up in Luzerne County on $300,000 cash bail. So far, he`s the only person arrested in connection with the meth lab.

POLK TOWNSHIP — A man is locked up in Monroe County after police said he was operating a meth lab inside his home in the Poconos.

Officers arrested Bryan Hildebrant, 37, after a traffic stop Friday night.

Police said Hildebrant was taken into custody after he was pulled over for driving with a broken head light and tail light.

Police believed he was driving under the influence, and further questioning lead them to search his home in Monroe County where they found the meth lab.

Police in Monroe County said inside the house in the Robinhood Lakes community officers found a meth lab.

Neighbors said they saw police at the home for hours.

“At first there was one state trooper there from about a little after ten, and we went to bed at 11:30, he was still there, and then two more came, and they were here until after one,” said Neil Ahner.

“I knew they were there for Bryan probably, but I didn’t know what was going on,” said Tammi Green.

Neighbors said the house is Hildebrant’s father’s, and Hildebrant has been living there with him in a basement apartment.

They said they feel sorry for Hildebrant’s father.

“It’s a shame for his dad because his dad’s such a nice guy, he’s a great neighbor, he’d do anything for anybody,” said Green.

They also said even with previous police activity at the house they never believed there was a meth lab just yards from their home.

“I’ve never expected that to happen. I’ve expected other things but not that,” said Abner.

“I’ve seen the cops there a lot and it’s always for Bryan,” said Green.

Police said Hildebrant is facing numerous drug charges in Monroe County and DUI charges will be filed in Carbon County, pending results of a blood test.

BEREWICK — Investigators in Columbia County said Tuesday they discovered not one, but two drug-making labs.

Berwick’s Chief of Police said Tuesday afternoon that while adult probation officers were in a home on Susquehanna Avenue in Berwick, they noticed a small methamphetamine lab and called police.

Police said they made arrests at the home.

Later, police responded to a reported daylight burglary at a home in Berwick.

They said they chased a suspect on a car to a home along Dairy Road in nearby Briar Creek Township.

While they were arresting that suspect, they say they noticed a meth lab in that home, too.

In all, the chief said eight people were arrested.

BERWICK — A drug lab was shut down with the help of the suspect’s family in Columbia County.

Berwick police said Tyler Bitler’s family called officers, accusing him of making methamphetamine in a home on Fairview Avenue Wednesday.

Investigators were called in to take apart the suspected homemade drug lab, the eleventh found in the area since late last year.

Officers removed a propane torch, batteries and other items they believe Bitler used to make the powerful stimulant.

PLAINS TOWNSHIP — Authorities said they have two people in custody after a meth lab bust in Luzerne County.

We found investigators checking out a motel room at the Melody Motel in Plains Township.

Authorities said a husband and wife Johnathan and Jessica Cole were pulled over near Shickshinny after leaving the motel they were staying in.

Inside their vehicle police found five pots which were cooking methamphetamine, 15 used pots, and 15 gas generators, which help to make the powerful drug.

Investigators then evacuated and searched the pair’s hotel room and found two active pots.

Johnathan Cole was arrested and faces several drug charges.

Police said his wife Jessica, who is eight months pregnant, was taken to a hospital and will be charged at a later date.

BERWICK - At least a dozen meth labs have been busted by cops in Berwick this year. The latest happened just this week along Mulberry Street.

“I think it`s horrible, I think it`s ruining the image, people that want work can`t get job,” said Owner of Delta Fabricating Gregory Lacovoni.

Lacovoni is one Berwick business owner who says the number of active meth labs in the area is causing problems.

“Nine out of 10 people who apply to our company do not pass a drug test and so they`ll stay on unemployment and I think it really does hurt the area,” said Lacovoni.

Newswatch 16 was there as a meth lab along Fairview Avenue was busted in November. We also showed you this bust in May as authorities searched a home in protective suits along North Vine Street. Each bust is bringing more and more fear to business owners in Berwick.

“Well, it`s very very scary.  Very very scary.  In our neighborhood there was three just around our neighborhood alone, and yes I hear people say not nice things about Berwick because of that,” said owner of Perfect Blend of Expresso and More Mary Lou Oliver.

Mayor Jim Timbrell says it’s upsetting, but many are glad the police have put a stop to so many of these operations.

“I think it has tarnished it, but I think also a lot of people respect what is going on here for that reason,” said Mayor Timbrell.

Many business owners here in Berwick and community leaders throughout the area say they want those behind these numerous meth labs to know it`s something they won`t tolerate in their area.

“I want them to think it`s a good safe place to live, I want them to think it`s a good place to raise children, a good place to retire to,” said Timbrell.

Walkers Jewelers Owner Jeff Cerminaro says the people he’s grown to know and love won’t let these busts bring down Berwick.

“We`re a tight-knit community and I don`t think that we`re different than any community in Northeastern Pennsylvania,” said Cerminaro.

If you know someone addicted to methamphetamine or would like to help bring awareness to this issue, you can get in touch with the Berwick Anti-Drug Alliance at (570)-542-7946.

SAINT CLAIR — One crime uncovered another in Schuylkill County. What started as a hit and run crash, led to the discovery of a meth lab.

Police said the meth lab was uncovered by accident, after a car hit a parked van in the Walmart parking lot in Saint Clair. Police told us when they went to speak to the owner of the van, they were shocked with what they found inside.

“There was a sole occupant in the vehicle who was passed out. They could see in plain view what appeared to them to be evidence of a mobile methamphetamine lab,” said Chief Michael Carey of Saint Clair Police.

Chief Carey said drug busts like this one don’t happen too often. A ford minivan was parked in the parking lot when it was sideswiped by a passing vehicle. The car that hit the van fled the scene, but a good samaritan called 911 which led to police making the discovery.

“We called the state police lab team due to the volume of product that was inside. It was the safest thing for us to do,” said Chief Carey.

Police said the van was packed with all of the raw materials necessary to produce methamphetamine. Felix Ferrer, 39, of Reading was found asleep behind the wheel of the parked van. Police said he himself appeared to be under the influence of narcotics.

Those who live in the small Schuylkill County Community said they are surprised to hear about such a big drug bust happening so close to home.

“It’s terrible to think that something that people come to on a daily basis have to deal with, especially having drugs in the parking lot of a Walmart,” said Scott Johnson of Minersville.

People are pleased to see drug dealers like Felix Ferrer, busted.

“We have this dare program. The cop comes in and tells us about all the people that were on drugs. There are photos of the people that were on drugs, and he tries to keep the kids off,” said Chad Weaver of Andreas.

“There are a lot of kids in the area here. There are a lot of kids in Schuylkill County and drugs are just not a good thing,” said Tammy Weaver of Andreas.

Police said Ferrer had several outstanding warrants in Berks County. He was arrested and is locked up in Schuylkill County Prison. Felony charges are pending.