Police: Remains of suspected meth lab found during search of home

The remains of a suspected methamphetamine laboratory were found during a search of a home on West Wadsworth Circle on Wednesday, authorities said.

Items found in a trash can in the basement of the home included coffee filters, a Coleman brand camp fuel can, lithium batteries that had been cut open, and lithium strips that appeared to have been chemically reacted, Oak Ridge Police Department Officer John Thomas said in arrest warrants. He said other items included a sports drink bottle with a two-part liquid, a soda bottle with a white powdery substance and holes that appeared to have been burned through the bottle from a chemical reaction inside, and two empty boxes of Claritin-D medicine that originally each contained 2.4 grams of pseudoephedrine.

The two defendants, Arthur Wilson Jr., 50, and Julia Wilson, 49, are on probation for convictions for manufacturing methamphetamine in Morgan County, the warrants said. The two are under the supervision of the Tennessee Department of Correction, and one of the conditions of probation is that the home can be searched, Thomas said.

Thomas accompanied Tennessee Department of Correction Probation/Parole Officer Walter Cum on the home visit at 161 West Wadsworth Circle on Wednesday.

After he searched the basement, Thomas said he searched the living area of the home. He said he found a scale, clear plastic bags with corners cut off, coffee filters, aluminum, short sections of plastic straw, and aquarium tubing in a small bedroom of the house. That room was also equipped with two fire extinguishers, Thomas said.

“Affiant (Thomas) believes the defendant has been using these items to manufacture methamphetamine, a Schedule II drug,” the officer said.

Also, Julia Wilson told Thomas that Arthur Wilson had been “cooking” meth in the small bedroom, according to the warrants, which were filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge.

Arthur Wilson and Julia Wilson were arrested Wednesday afternoon, and both have been charged in Anderson County with the manufacture of a Schedule II drug and possession of drug paraphernalia. They remained jailed at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton on Friday evening.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

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