Federal and local officials responded to a home in Plant City for a hazardous materials call when they had stumbled upon what deputies said is a clandestine drug lab.
The potentially hazardous chemical materials and suspicious devices that were originally considered explosive in nature were found inside a house in the 4900 block on Pandora Place in Plant City.
One man living at the home was taken into custody.
As a precaution, deputies evacuated five homes between the residence and nearby Charleston Avenue. Residents were let back into their houses around 10 p.m.
"What we believe we found here is a clandestine laboratory, a drug lab,” said Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Colonel Jim Previtera. “And we have no reason to believe anything else right now. Our detectives will continue this investigation and determine for sure what was going on in this house."
Law enforcement stopped traffic on Charleston Avenue from Turkey Creek Road and only people who reside on Charleston Avenue are being allowed in.
Agents say they found what they call the pre-cursor ingredients to make MDMA or Molly, a club drug, which is the purest form of the drug ecstasy.
This incident began Tuesday morning when deputies tried to serve an eviction notice to the family who has lived at the house for more than a decade.
When they went inside the house, they found pressure cookers and chemicals and deemed it a potentially explosive situation.
Once the chemicals were analyzed, deputies discovered they were ingredients used to make the drugs.
Bay News 9 spoke with the woman who owns the house, Kelly Doyle, who is a cousin of the man deputies took into custody Tuesday night.
She said that he and his wife have lived at the house for more than a decade with their 13-year-old girl and 4-year-old boy.
She said she just can’t understand what went wrong in their lives that would have caused all of this.
"He wasn't raised that way,” said Doyle. “He went to a Christian school and I saw the devil stuff in there and everything. It just, it just breaks my heart. You know? I'll just keep praying for him. Maybe he'll see the light. I hope this wakes him up." n
Meantime, the investigation continues.
At last check, the two children, along with their mother, are now with representatives from the Department of Children and Families.
Deputies said the father, who they took into custody Tuesday night, will most likely face charges.
No word yet on what those charges could be.