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Tip leads officers to meth labs in apartment, woods

By Robert Sorrell

The Elizabethton Police Department arrested three people after officers found methamphetamine labs in an apartment and in the woods along Bluefield Avenue.

Sgt. Christopher Bowers said officers of the EPD vice unit, the crime suppression unit and the patrol division went to a residence in the Lynnridge Apartment Complex Saturday evening, acting on a tip of possible drug activity.

Heather Riddle, a lease holder, was told of the complaint and gave officers consent to search her apartment at 1293 Bluefield Ave., Building B2, Apt. 120, according to an affidavit.

Bowers said officers located an active “one pot” clandestine methamphetamine lab in a kitchen cabinet. Police also found a can of Coleman fuel, a methamphetamine precursor, in the residence.