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Gwinnett police find 50 pounds of meth during raid

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Gwinnett County officials have busted what they call a large scale meth operation just outside of Lilburn.

Police say four children were in the house, including three toddlers, when they raided the home Tuesday afternoon. Four adults have been arrested and are now facing drug and child cruelty charges.

Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter says agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration and Gwinnett County police found about 50 pounds of meth in the split-level home.

"It is so dangerous and it presents so many dangers that I can't conceive to people having children in there," said Porter.

Arrest warrants filed in magistrate court state the adults were converting liquid meth into a final product in the home. Porter said the bust was part of a larger investigation.

"The meth is coming in from Mexico. It's being processed and prepared for market here. Some of it was being sold here and some of it was being transported out," said Porter.

On Friday, a red sign could be seen next to the home’s front door. DEA agents posted the sign, warning of potential hazardous contamination inside due to the chemicals they found. Just above the warning hung a cardboard cutout of a stork welcoming a baby girl to the house.

Neighbors told Channel 2’s Tony Thomas that they had smelled something odd coming from the home the past couple of months.

"I always park my car and just getting out of my car and getting into my house I'm like 'what is that smell?'” said Veronica Adem.

The suspects, identified in court as Rocio Vasquez Vega, Juan Perez Maldonado, Olegarrio Palacios-Pineda and Normal Pineda-Palacios, are all being held without bond and have immigration holds on them.

Neighbors say the group moved in a short time ago and kept to themselves.

"There was a lot of cars coming, I just thought they had a lot of friends," said Adem.