Photos by Brian Duggan/Nevada AppealA federal agent and Nevada Department of Public Safety officials prepare to search a Carson City condo on Friday after police found a equipment and ingredients to make methamphetamine in it Thursday night.
A hazardous materials crew cleared a Saliman Road condo Friday morning after officers found a suspected mobile methamphetamine lab hidden in a secret compartment in a closet there Thursday.
Officers with the Carson City Sheriff's Department, Nevada Division of Investigations and Tri-Net Drug Task Force spent more than two hours at the condominium at the corner of Saliman Road and Como Street.
A crew in protective clothing retrieved a backpack and, after ensuring the contents were stabilized, brought it outside, where investigators in hazmat suits documented the contents. Among the items found inside were several soda bottles containing an unknown liquid, funnels, tubing, chemicals and a beaker.
Each container was opened and a sample taken for testing. The remainder of the items were left to be disposed of by Clean Harbors Environmental Services out of Reno.
Nevada Division of Investigations Lt. Dave Jones said the bottles of liquid indicate the pack "wasn't something that's been sitting in a closet for five years." He said the fact that the items were contained in a backpack suggests the lab was mobile.
A test of the air in the condo found no toxic levels, suggesting no manufacturing of methamphetamine had happened inside, said Jones.
Sheriff Ken Furlong said the property owner will be responsible for the cost of the cleanup.
The discovery came about Thursday night after the owner of the condo reported her disabled son was afraid to go home because a man he'd invited to stay had moved in a woman and become aggressive toward him, according to the arrest report.
When deputies arrived to ask Thomas Peddy, 52, and Annie Stewart, 35, to leave, Peddy said he would. But after a drug dog hit on the stash in the closet, both Peddy and Stewart were arrested.
Peddy is being held on suspicion of felony possession of drug manufacturing items and misdemeanor possession of a hypodermic needle. Stewart, who was asleep in the room in which the backpack was found, is being held on suspicion of felony possession of drug manufacturing items, misdemeanor possession of a hypodermic needle and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The case remains under investigation.