It had all the makings of a potential methamphetamine lab.
A lot of chemicals. A garage. And a homeowner out of town.
But if the two "suspects" were trying to produce meth, they weren't following the right recipe, the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office said Thursday afternoon.
"Although the suspects likely thought they could produce methamphetamine and actually had some of the items required to make the drug, it would have been impossible for them to produce methamphetamine," said Lt. Jay Baker. "There was no Ephedrine, a required ingredient to methamphetamine, located at the home."
The owner of a home on Eagle View Trace in the Eagle View subdivision called deputies Wednesday after returning home from a trip and finding suspicious items in his garage. Two people had been staying in the home during the homeowner's absence, Baker said.
Deputies called in the county's narcotics unit and investigators went to work making sure the home and the one across was safe, Baker said. Investigators remained on the scene late Wednesday.
But it was just an exercise in caution, investigators said Thursday.
"He had a lot of chemicals, but he didn't have the right ones," Commander Phil Price with the Cherokee Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad told the AJC.
No charges will be filed, the sheriff's office said.
Although the items presented no danger, that's not always the case in similar situations, Price said. “There’s always a potential for risk because those can interact in ways you can’t imagine.”
-- Mike Morris and John Spink contributed to this report.
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