COPS: DRUG LAB UP IN FLAMES
North Reading pair sought after fire-scene cache find
Cops are hunting for two North Reading men accused of running a sophisticated Ecstasy drug lab in a house with a hidden room — after the home went up in toxic flames last week.
Lowell Navarro, 28, and Jacob Stanish, 31, face charges of unlawful manufacturing of a Class B controlled substance, MDMA, and conspiracy to violate drug laws, police said yesterday. Arrest warrants have been issued for them. Their whereabouts were unknown as of yesterday afternoon, cops said.
Shortly before midnight Feb. 7, firefighters and cops arrived at the home on Travelled Way that was consumed by flames. Authorities immediately noticed “a strange odor coming from the house and plumes of thick black smoke, neither of which are typically associated with a house fire,” police said in a released statement.
A hazardous materials team and the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Clandestine Drug Lab Response Team responded. A search warrant was secured, and inside, police said they found “a hidden, unfinished room with a venting system and glass laboratory case. Police also said chemicals were found used to create MDMA, a rave party drug commonly known as Ecstasy or Molly.
“This was an extremely dangerous situation, in which a drug lab was operating in a residential neighborhood with houses stacked closely to one another,” North Reading Police Chief Michael P. Murphy said. “We are very fortunate that no one was injured or killed.”
The origin and cause of the fire remain under investigation, police said.
Murphy encouraged parents to have frank discussions with their children about the dangers of the drug.
“Unfortunately, there’s a demand for drugs like Ecstasy. If people knew the noxious chemicals that went into drugs like Ecstasy and some other synthetic drugs, they would think twice before using it,” Chief Murphy said. “The home in question was full of deadly, burning chemicals that presented an extremely dangerous situation for first responders and neighbors.”