Where There’s Smoke, There’s No Fire, Just Drug
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WESTMINSTER — Firefighters responding to smoke from a house early Thursday discovered half a ton of marijuana and 100 pounds of methamphetamine ingredients, with a total street value estimated at $1.8 million, authorities said.
“There was no fire,” Police Lt. Bill Lewis said. “The smoke was coming from chemicals cooking.”
No one was home at 13242 Edwards St., and the house had no furniture or appliances, Lewis said. The marijuana was bundled inside, and two portable propane burners in the dining room were cooking ephedrine, which is used to make methamphetamine, he said.
“Whoever was watching it may have fallen asleep or something, and the water boiled out and it began to smoke,” Lewis said. Firefighters arriving at 5:47 a.m. “found the things still cooking. The people had left it.”
Police were investigating the renters of the single-family home.
Lewis said methamphetamine labs increasingly are being discovered in residential neighborhoods.
“Neighbors didn’t notice anything unusual,” he said. “The goal is to be nondescript as you can.”
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