Four booked on methamphetamine counts
BAKER — A police officer who observed suspicious activity outside a Walmart store Sunday morning later arrested four people accused of obtaining materials used to produce methamphetamine, Police Chief Mike Knaps said.
The officer saw one of the suspects walking back and forth from his car to the store several times and later found the car in another location, in a handicap parking zone, Knaps said.
Suspecting that at least two of the four people in the car had been attempting to conceal merchandise, the officer obtained their permission to search the vehicle and found nine lithium batteries, 18 coffee filters, approximately 100 plastic bags of the type used in packaging narcotics and a scale used in weighing narcotics, the police chief said.
Lithium batteries and coffee filters are used in the production of methamphetamine, Knaps said.
The officer found two spoons with burn marks on their underside and a residue on the tops, along with four used syringes, Knaps said.
Booked into Parish Prison with possession of drug paraphernalia and creation and operation of a clandestine lab were Joy Arcediano, 29, 180 Pine Bayou Road, Monroe; Layton LeBlanc, 34, 8214 Thistle St., Denham Springs; Megan Allen, 26, 1580 River Run Drive, Denham Springs; and Christopher Briscoe, 25, 34204 Cane Market Road, Walker.