Smell leads to arrest over lab | Fraser Coast News | Local News in Fraser Coast

An illicit drug investigation team sorts through the chemicals and laboratory equipment outside a Scarness unit.

Loretta Bryce/ Fraser Coast Chronicle

As police sorted through chemicals and laboratory equipment spread out on the lawn of a Scarness unit block yesterday, an acrid smell permeated the air.

A search of a McKean Road unit on Tuesday netted what is alleged to be an assortment of chemicals commonly used to produce methyl amphetamine, or speed. The recently used equipment was found in a garage which had been set up as a makeshift bedroom.

A 30-year-old man who lives in the unit has been charged with 11 drug and property offences in relation to the search of the McKean Road home and the nearby Tower Court Motel.

Police were called to the Esplanade motel earlier on Tuesday after a staff member found the room had been damaged.

Police found equipment in a cupboard of the motel room and arrested the 30-year-old man when he returned to the motel to collect his belongings.

Officers from the State Drug Investigation Unit from Brisbane attended the Scarness unit yesterday to sort through the paraphernalia and investigate the alleged offences.

The man will appear in the Hervey Bay Magistrates Court on August 13 to face charges including possession of a drug, production of a drug, possession of a utensil, wilful damage and stealing.