As the result of joint Huron County Sheriff’s Office and Bad Axe City Police investigation into the manufacturing of methamphetamine, solid information was gathered leading to the issuance of two search warrants. Shortly after 09:00 Friday morning, the first search warrant was served at 316 Whitelam St. in Bad Axe. An active meth lab was discovered by police, with people inside the house. All people were removed and the Sanilac County Drug Task Force responded to process the scene, while The Bad Axe Fire Department and Central Huron Ambulance stood by.
Sheriff Kelly Hanson said as events unfolded there, 3 people were arrested on felony charges for manufacturing meth, while over 20 grams of processed meth were found and seized. Those arrested were all males with a 21 and 28-year-old being from Bad Axe and the third being a 33-year-old from Mount Pleasant.
Also seized at the Bad Axe location was over $600 in cash, marijuana, a large amount of unprocessed meth in a cooking state, a large amount of meth components, packaging material, drug paraphernalia, cell phones and other incidentals.
Three children reside at the residence with two of them being in school at the time of the search. All three children were eventually taken to the Huron Medical Center by Child Protective Services to be checked our and medically cleared.
Friday afternoon, a special hearing was held in the Probate Court with all 3 children being ordered placed in temporary foster care. The scene was cleared around 2:00 p.m. Friday afternoon and the house has been declared uninhabitable.
While the Whitelam St. search was still taking place, the second search warrant was served around 12:00 at a barn on Sullivan Rd., near Learman Rd. in Verona Township. Hanson said the scene was an inactive cooking operation.
Arrested there was a 33-year-old Bad Axe man for felony charges for manufacturing meth. Information was also gathered about a fifth suspect, with manufacturing components and other drug related items being later seized by the Sanilac County Drug Task Force.
Hanson said that scene was cleared about three hours later with the Bad Axe Fire Department assisting once again.
Around 4 p.m. Friday, the fifth suspect was arrested in Isabella County on felony charges of manufacturing meth related to these incidents. Huron County Deputies transported a 33-year-old female from Mount Pleasant back to Huron County jail. Individual bond amounts for all 5 arrested ranges from $10,000 cash to $25,000 cash.
Police said the street value of the meth varies between $100 to $200 a gram. Hanson said more arrests are likely to occur as the investigation continues. The sheriff said anyone with information about illegal drugs can call 989-269-6500 or Huron Central Dispatch’s non-emergency number at 989-269-6421. Confidential callers can use our TIPS Line of 989-269-2861.
