Kathryn Stephens, Ronald Rowe (Source: BCSO)BEAUFORT, SC (WTOC) -
A man and woman have been charged after a Beaufort police officer discovered a mobile methamphetamine lab Monday morning at the Pigeon Point boat landing.
Ronald Joseph Rowe, 38, and Kathryn Elizabeth Stephens, 26, both of Augusta, have each been charged with one count of manufacturing meth and one count of trafficking meth.
A Beaufort police officer saw them sitting in a white 1992 Geo Metro in the boat landing parking lot early Monday morning and spotted items commonly used in making meth inside the car, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office.
They were detained and eventually arrested for littering because the car was surrounded by trash. The Beaufort County Sheriff's Office drug investigations team responded to secure any potentially hazardous products. The boat landing was restricted to emergency personnel during the investigation.
A search warrant was obtained for the car. Analysis of collected substances at the scene tested positive for the presence of methamphetamines.
After the hazardous materials were removed, the boat landing was reopened.
Some residents were event asked to evacuate their homes.
The people who live in the on the street say it's normally a quiet area and their shocked that something like that would happen there, but they're very pleased with the way police handled it .
"Police regularly patrol the area," said Margaret Suber. "It is kind of scary that people think that they can come down there and have any kind of activity that would be off the radar, Cause it's not."
The investigation continues.
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