TMCnet News
Stanfield meth lab shut down [The Stanly News and Press, Albemarle, N.C.](Stanly News & Press, The (Albemarle, NC) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 26--Thanks to tips to Locust Police Department from employees of a couple stores in Locust, a clandestine methamphetamine laboratory in Stanfield is no longer in operation. The meth lab was located in a small outbuilding behind the home of Jimmy Frank Gordon, Jr., 40, and his wife, Cathy Burris Gordon, 44. Their residence is at 14615 Hatley-Burris Road. Based on the information from store employees shared by Locust Police to the Stanly County Sheriff's Office, deputies of the Sheriff's Office and agents of the State Bureau of Investigation searched the properties at 3:15 p.m. Oct. 8. Items and chemicals used in the manufacture of "meth" were found inside the outbuilding and were configured for the manufacturing process. SBI agents and a chemical clean-up team from Raleigh were called in to handle the hazardous chemical site created by the meth-manufacturing process. Items seized have been submitted to the SBI Crime Laboratory in Raleigh for analysis while the contaminated items, not of evidentiary value, were removed from the site for proper disposal. Two weeks prior to the initial tips to Locust Police, Sheriff Rick Burris said he received a tip from Montgomery County that a meth lab was operative there and that Robert Christopher O'Neal, 27, of Troy was the cook. Followup investigation of this lead also led law enforcement officers to Anson County, where O'Neal was also cooking meth. Through cooperative efforts with the Anson, Montgomery and Stanly County Sheriff's Offices and the SBI, O'Neal was arrested Oct. 22 in Anson County, shortly after he had cooked more meth. O'Neal was charged with three felonies related to the Oct. 8 search in Stanfield: manufacturing methamphetamine; possession and distribution of methamphetamine precursor; and maintaining a dwelling for possession and distribution of a controlled substance. O'Neal is in the Anson County Jail under a $50,000 secured bond awaiting a his initial court date of Nov. 30. Once O'Neal was located and arrested, the Stanly County Sheriff's Office arrested Jimmy and Cathy Gordon and charged each with the same three felonies. Additionally, Jimmy Gordon was charged with a fourth felony -- possession of weapon by a felon. Bond for Jimmy Gordon was set at $12,000 secured and for Cathy Gordon, $9,000 secured. They also have an initial court date of Nov. 30 as well. In addition to the Sheriff's Offices and the SBI, the police departments in Albemarle, Locust and Norwood were involved in the efforts to close down this meth lab. Sheriff Burris also wanted to thank the store employees who tipped Locust Police in the first place. "If we hadn't been given the heads up, they'd still be out there cooking," Burris said. "We got lucky on that one. There may be more out there." The investigation is ongoing. Sheriff Burris described meth as "a trashy drug, a lot dirtier than crack." He said that meth eats the enamel off teeth and creates "meth bugs" all over the skin. Meth addicts develop open sores from scratching these meth bugs, and in addition, the addict's skin ages rapidly. "This is one drug we don't want here. We knew it was in Anson County, they've busted close to a dozen labs just this year," Burris said. To see more of The Stanly News & Press or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://thesnaponline.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Stanly News and Press, Albemarle, N.C. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |