Feb. 29--GROVER -- One by one, the men were hosed off, scrubbed down and donned white suits that covered them from head to toe.
Each one shuffled over to a Sheriff's Office patrol car where an officer handcuffed the men and placed them in the backseat.
Following the discovery of a methamphetamine lab in a home on Springwood Road Tuesday, four men were detained for questioning.
According to the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office, all four were arrested and charged: David Monroe Lockridge Jr., 32, was charged with conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, possession of Xanax and possession of drug paraphernalia; Trever Wayne Tessneer, 26, was charged with conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine; Carl Norris Gilliam was charged with possession of meth precursor materials, manufacturing meth, possession of drug paraphernalia and maintaining a dwelling for controlled substances; Jason Ray Gilliam faces the same charges as Carl Gilliam.
Emergency management, emergency medical services, fire departments and law enforcement officers were at the small yellow trailer as the four people found at the home were decontaminated.
Deputies said the State Bureau of Investigation assisted the Sheriff's Office with the investigation and the processing of the meth lab.
Sheriff's Capt. Joel Shores said after an investigation spanning several months, the lab was discovered in a mobile home at 501 Springwood Road northeast of Grover Tuesday. Carl and Jason Gilliam both lived at the home, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Sheriff Alan Norman said there were no children living at the home.
Norman said the meth lab was a fairly large one and guns were also found in the house.
"It is a growing problem," Norman said. "We can see the trend. Prescription drugs are the No. 1 drug of choice followed by methamphetamine."
He said this is the fifth meth lab found in Cleveland County this year.
"If we continue this rate, we'll bust the previous rate wide open," Shores said. "We're on pace to shatter that record."
Norman said disassembling the labs is costly, and the county is responsible for that expense, but the Sheriff's Office plans to "continue to attack it and attack it aggressively."
"When it comes to methamphetamine and the methamphetamine habit, the individuals will resort to anything to help facilitate that habit," he said.
Reach reporter Rebecca Clark at 704-669-3344.
Copyright 2012 - The Star, Shelby, N.C.
