Police: Man bought meth supplies online

Internet orders for products used to make methamphetamine led agents to a Dunlap residence where a man told them he had been cooking the drug every week for six years, Sequatchie County Sheriff Ronnie Hitchcock said.

Hitchcock said county, city, state and federal agents were involved early Friday in arresting Wayne Merrell, 60, and Robert Paul Newman, 42, on charges of manufacturing the stimulant and possessing a firearm.

Merrell and Newman were being held without bond and were scheduled to appear before a judge in Dunlap on Tuesday before likely being turned over to federal prosecutors.

Hitchcock said agents ?had been watching this place for about four years? but could never get evidence to do anything. He said that changed when investigators in another state raided an operation that was shipping the products, including pseudoephedrine, a decongestant ingredient that was moved behind pharmacy counters in Tennessee last year. Hitchcock said those investigators were continuing to trace orders.

Hitchcock said there were hundreds of burned and discarded cans in the back yard of the residence. The meth-making operation was described as ?one of the largest these agents said they have seen in Tennessee,? he said.

Merrell was ordering products from a number of other states, including Ohio, California and Indiana, the sheriff said. He said companies making the deliveries ?don?t know what is in the package.?