Two Lewiston men were arrested Sunday evening at a Bartlett Street apartment in Lewiston and charged with operating a methamphetamine laboratory there.

Raymond Nelson, 35, and Merlin Ellingwood, 32, after agents from the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency found a single-pot meth lab inside the apartment where they were staying at 197 Bartlett St., according to Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

“Due to the extremely dangerous nature of methamphetamine manufacturing, members of the MDEA Clandestine Laboratory Enforcement Team were utilized to seize the evidence with the Maine State Department of Environmental Protection assisting at the scene to safely dispose of the items,” McCausland wrote in a news release.

The charge of unlawful operation of a methamphetamine laboratory is a Class B felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Nelson and Ellingwood were taken after their arrests to Androscoggin County Jail.

Bail was set for Nelson at $10,000 cash. Nelson also goes by the name of Kent Lathrop. Ellingwood’s bail was set at $500 cash.


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