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Braceville Twp. man arrested 2nd time on meth charges
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Agents with the Trumbull Ashtabula Group Law Enforcement Task Force found evidence of methamphetamine production at a home on Braceville Robinson Road in Braceville Township on Friday — for a second time in three months.
For a second time, police arrested Carlos G. Cowger Jr., 36, who lives at the house, on felony drug charges. He will be arraigned on his newest charges Monday in Newton Falls Municipal Court.
Cowger was indicted by a Trumbull County grand jury on felony drug-trafficking and drug- possession charges Jan. 24 in connection with his previous arrest in November.
When officers arrived at the home Friday, Cowger answered the door in rubber gloves and “reeked of chemicals,” said Lt. Jeff Orr, TAG commander.
Officers found materials in the garage used to make methamphetamine. The Trumbull County Hazardous Materials Team neutralized the chemicals and drug-making materials so they could be removed.
Officials also cleaned up and placed him in a special suit to protect the vehicle used to transport Cowger and prevent contamination at the Trumbull County jail, where he was taken.
It’s the third time this week TAG has found a methamphetamine lab in central Trumbull County.
Officers also found a production location in an abandoned trailer on state Route 305 in Fowler Township on Thursday night.
Police found the lab after a traffic stop at Routes 305 and 193 turned up chemicals in the car used to make the drug. The driver of the car fled on foot during the traffic stop, but the passenger did not. Charges are pending against both.
On Monday, officers found a methamphetamine lab in the basement and in an outbuilding at a house on North Bank Street in Cortland and arrested two people. HazMat assisted with Monday’s and Thursday’s cleanups.
Orr said TAG has found around 20 meth labs per year in Ashtabula County over the past seven to eight years but only a handful in Trumbull County over that time.
Orr said he doesn’t believe the events of this week suggest a growing problem in Trumbull County.