ANDOVER, Mass. — Jay Keough cooked methamphetamine every four to five days at his parents' Lowell Street home and threatened to kill anyone who told police about the drug lab hidden there, federal agents said.
The first-floor room in which Keough and Ryan Emmett cooked the drug was locked with a heavy chain and guarded by a Rottweiler, the agents said.
Keough, 42, and Emmett, 30, were arraigned yesterday in U.S. District Court in Boston on charges of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, also known as crystal meth.
They were arrested Wednesday during a raid by federal, state and local authorities at the single-family home on a heavily wooded lot at 487 Lowell St., (Route 133).
A court affidavit written by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent Christian Brackett said Keough and Emmett cooked the highly addictive drug using cold medicines and materials purchased at area pharmacies and Home Depots.
DEA officials and Andover police began investigating Keough and Emmett several weeks ago after receiving information from a source.
According to Brackett, the source began sharing information with law enforcement officials "due to concerns about the health and safety of the individuals residing in the residence with Keough and Emmett, including at least one minor."
As recently as last week, the source was inside 487 Lowell St. and smelled a "very strong chemical odor," according to Brackett. Also spotted by the source inside the first-floor room, where the methamphetamine was allegedly cooked, was a hot plate, plastic tubing and iodine, which is used to cook the drug using the "red phosphorous method," Brackett wrote.
Methamphetamine is an addictive stimulant of the central nervous system that can be smoked, injected, snorted or ingested orally.
Meth labs have been known to explode.
The drug is commonly made by distilling ephedrine from cold medicine containing pseudoephedrine. Under federal limitations enforced at pharmacies, individuals cannot buy more than nine grams of pseudoephedrine within a 30-day period.
But despite those guidelines, Keough and Emmett were able to purchase 133 boxes of cold medicine containing pseudoephedrine within the last year.
The pair bought the medicine in pill or tablet form at 15 different pharmacies in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, including in Andover, North Andover, Lawrence, Methuen and Haverhill, according to a review of pharmacy records conducted by Brackett.
Brackett also wrote in the affidavit that Keough and Emmett purchased plastic tubing and hydrochloric acid from area hardware stores.
Andover police Lt. James Hashem would not comment on what was confiscated from 487 Lowell St. on Wednesday.
The home is owned by Walter and Gertrude Keough, according to records kept with the Essex County Registry of Deeds.
A man answering the phone yesterday at 487 Lowell St. would not identify himself.
"We're not commenting," he said before hanging up.
If convicted, Keough and Emmett each face up to 20 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release and a $1 million fine.
They will remain in federal custody at least until appearing at a detention hearing scheduled for Monday.
