Flash player is required to view weather conditions. Download

site web  

EATON — Preble County law enforcement officers, with the assistance of the Butler County Sheriff's Office, raided a residence in Jackson Twp. Friday morning and found evidence of methamphetamine production, ammunition and guns.

A search warrant was executed shortly before 9 a.m. at a farm in the 9400 block of Crawfordsville-Campbellstown Road outside of Eaton near the Indiana state line. The hazardous materials, bomb unit and SWAT team from Butler County assisted, according to Preble County Sheriff Mike Simpson.

The raid was a culmination of several months of information gathering regarding suspected drug activity at the residence. Deputies suspect meth was being manufactured in a barn on the property.

Specialist Mike Grimes, commander of the Butler County Bomb Unit, said they secured 21 old pieces of military equipment found in the residence and in outbuildings.

"We found products consistent with the manufacturing of meth," Simpson said, adding that guns and other drug paraphernalia also were found at the residence. The owner of the property, Steve M. Bailey, 41, was taken into custody on an outstanding warrant and also was charged with illegal manufacture of drugs. Four other people were taken from the residence and later released.

Simpson said more charges will be filed next week after a meeting with the prosecutor's office. Chemicals for meth production located at the residence were removed by a hazardous waste contractor.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2168 or lpack@coxohio.com.