Complaints of a strong chemical odor prompted police to raid a Long Beach residence where a PCP lab was found.
Two men were arrested during the raid, which followed a complaint about 1 a.m. of a chemical odor in the 4300 block of Maury Avenue, according to the Long Beach Police Department.
They were identified as Edwin Van, 48 and Vernon Thomas, 61, both of Long Beach, police said.
“The initial investigation at the scene led officers and firefighters to believe the smell was related to a possible clandestine laboratory,” according to a police statement. “Officers quickly contained the scene and evacuated residents in the immediate area to ensure their safety during the investigation.”
A search warrant was obtained for a home in that block of Maury Avenue and the Long Beach Police Department’s Drug Investigations Section responded along with the Los Angeles Interagency Metropolitan Police Apprehension Crime Task Force, police said.
An “active phencyclidine (PCP) laboratory” with several large drum containers of the drug was found on the property, according to the LBPD.
Van and Thomas were taken to a hospital for treatment of minor chemical exposure and then booked at the Long Beach City Jail on suspicion of manufacturing a controlled substance, with bail set at $75,000 apiece, police said.
— City News Service