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Cops hit Medford meth lab By Vicki Guarino of the Mail Tribune Police expected to find drugs when they raided an east Medford home Thursday evening. But they were not expecting to find a full-blown methamphetamine lab up and running, a chemical reaction underway, when they arrived. "It's very unusual," Jackson County Narcotics Enforcement Team Sgt. Jim Anderson said Friday. "Usually we find the equipment packed in boxes." Police with a search warrant found the drug lab about 6:30 p.m. Thursday in the bathroom of a home at 2500 Sandy Terrace -- a residential neighborhood. Officers from JACNET, Medford Police and Oregon State Police arrested three people at the house: resident Willard Copeland Mattson, 49; John Joseph McNichols Jr., 52, 557 Suncrest Road, Talent; and John Franklin Davis Jr., 40, Second St., Gold Hill. All three men were taken to the Jackson County Jail and held on $25,000 bail on charges of possession, delivery and manufacture of methamphetamine. Anderson figured the lab setup was capable of producing 2-3 ounces of methamphetamine in a single reaction. The drug sells for $500-$700 an ounce. The modest operation included a hot plate and glassware. "You could put it all on your kitchen table," Anderson said. Police packed all of the items into one 30-gallon drum and three 5-gallon drums. The material has been sent to the state police crime lab for analysis. Anderson said that police on the scene were unable to identify some of the substances found. Neighbors who live on Sandy Terrace -- a wide street populated with ranch-style homes decked out with Christmas lights -- said they were concerned about Thursday's activity. "It was a shock to hear that there was a meth lab there," said Bethany Hawes, who lives with her husband, Travis, in a home across the street from the alleged drug lab. Dick Barbara, who also lives nearby, said he "didn't know what to think" about the drug raid. "We've got nice neighbors here, with the exception of a few bad apples," Barbara said. "But this is nothing you want going on next door to you." Barbara and the Haweses said police have become more visible in their neighborhood over the past few years, with increases in reports of home invasions and car thefts. "It hasn't been that great of a neighborhood for being on this (east) side of town," Travis Hawes said. "I've never lived in a neighborhood where the cops are so prevalent. I'm really thankful that they're on top of it, though," Barbara said. Investigators believe the lab on Sandy Terrace had been operating only a matter of weeks -- about as long as the JACNET investigation. Anderson said no additional arrests are expected from the case. The owner of the home was out of town, and is not connected to the drug case. Mattson was a tenant. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA