Four children found inside home

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office busted its eighth methamphetamine lab of this year and discovered four children ranging from ages two months to 7-years old living in the home.

Officers said on Tuesday, Oct. 23, during the evening hours, the Polk County Probation office and sheriff’s officers went to 108 Wolf Branch Road in the Sunny View community for a routine check and discovered an active meth lab.

William Damen Pack, 22, of 108 Wolf Branch Road and Erica Iashea Pack, 26, of 108 Wolf Branch Road were both arrested and charged with felony manufacturing methamphetamine, felony possession with intent to sell and deliver a schedule II controlled substance, felony maintaining a place/dwelling for a schedule II controlled substance and four counts each of misdemeanor child abuse, according to sheriff reports.

The Polk County Department of Social Services (DSS) was immediately contacted and took the children into custody, officers said.

The meth lab was determined to be one of the largest discovered in Polk County. The method used is referred to as “shake and bake,” with chemicals placed in a plastic drink bottle to create methamphetamine.

Officers said one plastic bottle is able to produce approximately three grams of methamphetamine with a street value between $350 and $400.

The mobile home is located in an unnamed mobile home park directly behind Coopers Gap Baptist Church off Coopers Gap Road in Sunny View.

This is the eighth meth lab discovered in Polk County this year beginning in January when three separate labs were discovered in the woods in Mill Spring.

In June, there were two meth labs discovered near River Road in Tryon.

The county’s sixth meth lab this year was discovered in June in the same unnamed mobile home park in Sunny View where a container and propane tanks were found in a field.

The county’s seventh meth lab was discovered on July 11 in the Silver Creek Community of Mill Spring.

The latest discovery of a meth lab is the county’s 11th discovery since August 2011.

Polk County’s largest meth lab in history was discovered in August 2011 in a Sunny View home where children were also found. Officers said Tuesday’s meth lab was comparable in size to the 2011 Sunny View meth lab discovery.

Another meth lab was discovered in Green Creek in early November 2011 and the county’s third meth lab of 2011 was discovered in Lynn later in November, all resulting in arrests.

Prior to the 2011, no meth labs had been discovered in Polk County since 2007.

William Damen Pack and Erica Iashea Pack were each given $104,000 bonds and as of Wednesday, Oct. 24 were still being held in jail, according to sheriff reports.

The N.C. State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) assisted the sheriff’s office in processing the meth lab.