By ANNA BROWN

Sheriff David Taylor says an operational methamphetamine lab dismantled Wednesday in Buffalo was a danger to Riley Road area residents.

“When our officers went in, the fumes were so strong they had to come back out,” he said. “We had to ventilate the house about an hour before they went back in to dismantle the equipment they were using to cook with.”

Arrested at the home on 634 Riley Road, were the residents, Michael Chad Thompson, 26, and Donna Millwood Roberts, 47, along with April Michelle Sherbert, 31, of 301 Munroe St.

Thompson and Ms. Roberts both were charged with trafficking methamphetamine, possession of a Schedule 3 narcotic (Hydrocodone), possession of marijuana, unlawful disposal of waste from production of methamphetamine and unlawful conduct toward a child.

Ms. Sherbert was charged with trafficking methamphetamine and possession of marijuana.

Taylor said there were enough chemicals on hand at the time of the raid on the red phosphorous meth lab to generate approximately 14 1/2 grams of meth.

Taylor said he had received complaints about the methamphetamine lab even before he took office in January.

“We got some more information in the last couple of weeks that he (Thompson) was operating a meth lab,” he said. “Our narcotics officers established an informant who confirmed it and we obtained the search warrant to get in.”

A hazardous materials team from the Drug Enforcement Agency came in to handle the clean up and haul away the chemicals used to operate the lab, Taylor said.

“It was very dangerous and very explosive,” he said.

The Union County Task Force was assisted by Sheriff Chuck Wright and Spartanburg County narcotics agents, the Union Public Safety Department, the Buffalo Fire Department, Union County EMS and the Columbia office of the DEA.

The investigation is ongoing and more charges may be filed against the three people arrested, Taylor said.