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CLEAN Team helps nab 5 in drug-related arrests

PERU, Ind. (WLFI) – Recently, the CLEAN Team assisted the Miami County Probation Department with two searches that resulted in five arrests on various drug-related charges.

The first search was conducted at an apartment on E. 2nd Street in Peru, Ind., where a probation check was supposed to be done, but there were numerous apartments and none of the doors were marked. Authorities said they knocked on doors in an effort to find the probationer. But while speaking to a man, who answered the door to apartment C, officers allegedly smelled a “chemical odor.” A smell, officers said, they recognized as a “scent emitted during the manufacturing of methamphetamine.”

Timothy Collins II, 22, of Peru, was identified as the man who answered the door. He was removed from the apartment and taken into custody. Officers said they also found chemicals associated with the making meth.

While officers wearing plain clothes were outside the apartment, the renter of the apartment – 50-year-old Frank Zinn – returned home and allegedly thought they were Christmas carolers. Zinn was quickly identified and placed under arrest.

After gaining a search warrant, officers allegedly found a meth lab, methamphetamine, meth chemical precursors, hypodermic needles and drug paraphernalia.

Both men were booked into the Miami County Jail and face preliminary charges for possession of meth, hypodermic needles and drug paraphernalia. Zinn faces an additional preliminary charge for maintaining a common nuisance. Collins faces additional preliminary charges for manufacturing meth and possession of chemical precursors. Authorities said Collins is also wanted on an arrest warrant in Cass County for possession of marijuana.

Authorities did find the probationer’s residence, the individual they were first seeking, on the same floor as Zinn’s apartment.

In a separate probation search, officers went to the home of 35-year-old Amber Bowder of Plaza Drive in Peru, Ind. Authorities allegedly found methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. Jeffrey Miller, 43, and Drea Combs, 45, both from Peru, were also at the residence.

All three were booked into the Miami County Jail. Bowder faces preliminary charges for possession of meth and drug paraphernalia and maintaining a common nuisance. Combs faces preliminary charges for visiting a common nuisance and possession of meth and drug paraphernalia. Miller faces a preliminary charge of visiting a common nuisance.

CLEAN stands for Combined Law Enforcement Against Narcotics, and it’s made up of 11 law enforcement entities that have dedicated resources to fight narcotics in Fulton and Miami Counties.

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