Detectives with the Union County Multi-Agency Drug Enforcement (M.A.D.E.) Task Force executed a search warrant at this home at 18725 Pottersburg Road, Marysville. Investigators removed ingredients and equipment they believe were being used as part of a meth lab. (Photo submitted)
A Marysville man is in jail this morning, accused of operating a meth lab.
Joseph P. Combs, 42, of 18725 Pottersburg Road, Marysville, has been charged with one count each of illegal manufacturing of drugs and illegal assembly or possession of chemicals for the manufacturing of drugs. Combs is being held at Tri-County Regional Jail in Mechanicsburg. His bond has been set at $200,000.
Combs was arrested Wednesday as part of a month-long investigation.
Lt. Jeff Stiers with the Union County Sheriff’s Office and the Union County Multi-Agency Drug Enforcement (M.A.D.E.) Task Force said that more than a month ago, local law enforcement officials received an anonymous call. Information from the source prompted an investigation.
About 2 p.m. Wednesday, deputies with the Union County Sheriff’s Office stopped Combs’ vehicle.
“When we made the traffic stop, it was planned,” Stiers said. “That way, it was safer for everybody — getting the car stopped and getting the main people away from the house.”
While Combs and the other occupants of the car were being questioned, detectives with the Union County Sheriff’s Office, Marysville Division of Police and agents with the Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) executed a search warrant at the home on Pottersburg Road.
According to court documents, once inside the home, investigators determined “there was a clandestine lab located within the residence.”
Stiers said investigators seized, “evidence of a meth lab and ingredients to make meth from the home.”
He said Combs and the other passengers in the car “were interviewed in relation to the investigation.”
According to court documents, Combs told investigators he, “had been manufacturing methamphetamine since he was 17 years old.”
“Joseph Combs told detectives that the meth lab that was located within the residence was his and no one else was involved,” according to court documents. “After Joseph Combs admitted to the manufacturing of methamphetamine, he told detectives he did not want to speak anymore.”
Stiers said the other passengers, “were detained, questioned and then released.”
The M.A.D.E Task Force was assisted with the execution of the search warrant by the Sheriff’s Office, Marysville Division of Police, Union County Prosecutors Office, Marysville Fire Division and Allen Township Fire Department.
“All of this is still under investigation,” Stiers said. “We are still trying to wade through all the evidence and the facts.”
He said evidence seized will be sent to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification (BCI) for analysis.
“We are looking at more people, more charges,” Stiers said. “When we get information from BCI back, the case will be presented to the Union County Prosecutors Office for consideration of additional charges at a future Union County Grand Jury.”