UPDATE: New Kent Sheriff’s Office, DEA take down meth lab, marijuana operation

Arrested suspects (l to r) Nathaniel Blake Atkins, 23, Whitney Renee Marciniak, 23, and Jason Andrew Meade, 25, face several charges pending from a Tuesday morning drug bust.

New Kent Detective Joey McLaughlin slips under police tape in front of the trailer where this afternoon authorities took down a methamphetamine/marijuana operation.

Alan Chamberlain photos

One suspect, identified by authorities as Nathaniel Atkins, 23, sits with his hands shackled at a picnic table outside the trailer that was raided by the SWAT team. He is wearing a white jumpsuit after going through a decontamination
process. He has been charged with one count of heroin
possession.

New Kent SWAT team officers and agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) swooped down early Monday afternoon on a ramshackle trailer parked at a New Kent County campground, taking down a methamphetamine lab along with a marijuana growing operation found inside.

In custody are two adults, a male and a female, who are being held at Henrico Jail East. Authorities have charged Jason Andrew Meade, 25, of the 6300 block of Hopewell Road, New Kent, and Whitney Renee Marciniak, 23, of the 200 block of North Ivy Ave., Highland Springs, with one count each of burglary and larceny. No charges have been forthcoming in relation to the illegal drug activity, but charges are pending, said New Kent Chief Deputy Joe McLaughlin.

McLaughlin said both suspects were arrested Monday morning after leaving the scene of an alleged residential burglary on Newtown Road. A resident contacted the sheriff’s office in connection with a suspicious vehicle in the area. Deputies responding spotted the suspects fleeing on foot and apprehended the pair after a short pursuit. Authorities believe the suspects are connected to a rash of copper and battery thefts in western New Kent along with Henrico and Hanover counties.

Information provided by the suspects led authorities to the trailer. Around 12:30 p.m., officers armed with a search warrant stormed the trailer, located in the Woodbourne Kampground in the 6300 block of Hopewell Road in the county’s western end.

“We received information that some of the stolen property would be here at this location and also some illegal drug activity was going on here,” McLaughlin said.

“What was found inside were the precursors for methamphetamine production and also a marijuana grow,” he added.

Also inside, authorities found Nathaniel Blake Atkins, 23, who reportedly resided at the trailer overnight (a permanent address was not available). Authorities charged Atkins with one count of heroin possession, McLaughlin said. He was taken to Jail East.

People living in nearby trailers were evacuated before the SWAT team, made up of officers from a multi-jurisdictional task force, entered the suspects’ trailer.

All afternoon, DEA agents dressed in protective garb scoured the inside of the trailer, removing items that were taken to a nearby command post for cataloging and decontamination. New Kent Fire/Rescue also assisted at the scene.

“[DEA agents] are identifying and locating evidence and then this will turn into a recovery and cleanup operation,” the chief deputy said at the scene.

“The DEA could then handle the cleanup or they could turn it over to the [campground] owners to hire their own cleanup crew, depending on the amount of contamination they find,” he added.

“The [campground] owners said they were not aware of the activities going on here, but if they had been aware of it, they certainly would have reported it,” McLaughlin said.

Outside the trailer and almost hidden by overgrown weeds were several children’s toys. But McLaughlin said no children resided in the trailer at the time, and a previous tenant most likely had left the items behind.

All three are due in court today (Wednesday) for arraignment in New Kent General District Court.

Authorities, meanwhile, have released a list of items confiscated from the trailer. Most relate to meth lab activity, but the list also includes a SKS semiautomatic rifle.

Other items listed are suspected methamphetamine, green plant material, digital scales, two boxes of empty pseudoephedrine packets, liquid fire drain cleaner, drain cleaner, two bottles of Lye/Heet, assorted paraphernalia, devices for smoking narcotics, syringes, tubing, notepads containing notes, and scrap yard receipts possibly pertaining to stolen copper and batteries recovered at the scene.

A DEA agent prepares to enter the suspects’ trailer.