An anonymous tipster's 911 phone call led police to a methamphetamine lab near downtown Vinton on Friday, according to a search warrant.
The caller told dispatchers that John Nelon Jr. was operating a meth lab in a garage in the 100 block of West Madison Avenue, and described the building, according to the warrant filed Tuesday in Roanoke County Circuit Court.
Patrol officers followed up on the tip and noticed a "strong chemical smell" coming from the area. They found several items in a trash can "essential" to making the drug, the document said.
The discovery prompted officials to evacuate several houses and close roads in the area early Friday. Officers in white protective suits and masks hauled trash cans and several containers out of the garage.
Officers seized a mason jar with a yellow-brown liquid, a mason jar with a reddish-brown liquid, a mason jar with a clear liquid that tested positive for meth, 1 gallon of muriatic acid, iodine, plastic containers with white powder crystals, and a GED certificate with "John Nelon Jr." printed on it, according to the search warrant.
Officers also picked through a trash can outside the building and found cold medicine, matchbooks with the striking strips removed, empty red iodine bottles, used coffee filters with a red substance, and aluminum foil with a burnt substance inside.
John Thomas Nelon Jr., 28, of Vinton is charged with manufacturing methamphetamine, possessing drugs with the intent to manufacture and manufacturing a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a school.
Nelon has not been arrested.
Phone tip led police to Vinton meth lab
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