The two subjects at the center of the drug investigation Monday, Sept. 23, at the Pigeon Point boat landing have been charged with what investigators have determined to be a functioning mobile meth lab.
Ronald Joseph Rowe, 38, and Kathryn Elizabeth Stephens, 26, both of Augusta, Ga., have each been charged with one count of Manufacturing Methamphetamine and one count of Trafficking Methamphetamine.
An officer with the Beaufort Police Department noticed the pair sitting in a white 1992 Geo Metro, which was surrounded by trash in the boat landing parking lot early this morning. Upon approach, the officer observed materials commonly used in making meth in plain view inside the car.
Rowe and Stephens were detained and eventually placed under arrest for littering while the investigation into their activities proceeded. Members of the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office drug investigations section responded to secure any potentially hazardous products of a clandestine drug operation.
A search warrant was obtained for the vehicle, and a subsequent field analysis of collected substances tested positive for the presence of methamphetamines. Following the removal of all hazardous materials, the boat landing was reopened to all vehicular and boat traffic. The investigation remains ongoing.
