Three arrested in Lee County meth bust

Donathan Prater
Staff Writer
Published: August 7, 2008

What initially started as a welfare check on a couple of children led to the arrests of three Opelika residents Wednesday.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office arrested Richard Wayne Robertson, 47, and Freddie Lee Baker, 30, both of Opelika, on charges of Unlawful Manufacturing of a Controlled Substance and Unlawful possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

The arrests resulted from an earlier call from a person requesting a welfare check on children believed to be living at the Lee Road 146 residence.

“Once officers arrived at the location, they detected the odor of components commonly associated with the manufacture of methamphetamine and went forward with a subsequent search of the residence,” said Lee County Sheriff’s Office Chief Investigator Capt. Van Jackson.

That search turned up components consistent with methamphetamine manufacture, burnt aluminum foil, glassware, coffee filters and plastic tubing, he said. Two children, ages 4 and 9, were located at the residence and were turned over to the Department of Human Resources.

The children’s mother, Jennie Leann Mclean Phillips, 26, also of Opelika was arrested and charged with Endangering the Welfare of a Child and is currently being held in the Lee County Detention Center on a $1,000 bond.

Both Baker and Robertson are being held at the Lee County Detention Center on a $31,000 bond.

The manufacture of methamphetamine is a growing concern for area law enforcement, according to Jackson, but when children are involved it’s particularly disturbing.

“There is a danger when you go into a home and find that meth is being manufactured, but there is an additional concern when there are children present who might come in contact with the components used to make it,” said Jackson, who credits certain legislation with making the purchase of pseudoephedrine, a prime ingredient used in the manufacture of methamphetamine more difficult. “Still as a department we’re going to take a proactive approach to continuing to fight this drug.”