MIDDLEBURG -- The Pennsylvania attorney general was in Snyder County Thursday announcing the arrest of 10 people in what he calls a major methamphetamine ring in central Pennsylvania.
The 15-month investigation spanned three counties.
The 10 people who were arrested are accused of making and selling methamphetamine in Snyder, Union, and Northumberland counties.
Officials say they broke up meth labs at a motel in Shamokin Dam and a home in Penns Creek.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro joined officials from Snyder, Union, and Northumberland counties in Middleburg to announce the drug ring bust.
"Meth is a serious issue, particularly in rural Pennsylvania. We're working very, very hard to address it and bring it out," said Shapiro, (D) Attorney General.
The investigation has been going on for 15 months and centers on Charles Hanson, 23, of Selinsgrove. Shapiro says Hanson not only sold meth and taught others how to make it, he recruited others to buy meth ingredients for him. The group allegedly made and sold over two pounds of meth.
"Meth is cheap, and so this amount of meth is equivalent to over 2,000 doses," said Shapiro.
Investigators found two meth labs, one at Golden Arrow Motel in Shamokin Dam and another in Penns Creek in a home where an 8-year-old girl lived.
"This is not fertile ground for cooking meth. We have support. We have multi-agency partnerships and cooperation. That's on display today and we will find them," said Snyder County District Attorney Mike Piecuch.
Bud Schenck of Penns Creek saw a meth lab being broken up.
"I saw cars on both sides of the road. Some were marked cars. Some were unmarked cars. I had no idea what was going on."
People who spoke with Newswatch 16 say they are happy about the arrests but disappointed about drugs being so close by.
"Well, I think it's terrible," said Charlie Brown of Richfield. "It's not getting any better, and it used to be in the big cities, but now it's just all around."
There have been two more suspected meth labs dismantled in Snyder County since this investigation wrapped up, including one Wednesday in Penns Creek.
Investigators say those two raids were not connected to this ring.