Two arrested in drug investigation

BAXTER -- Two men were arrested Thursday in Baxter after a portable methamphetamine lab was found in their vehicle.

The two men, a 39-year-old Litchfield man and a 37-year-old St. Cloud man, were arrested in their vehicle about 11:18 a.m. on Excelsior Road in Baxter.

The Baxter Police Department and the Lakes Area Drug Investigative Division had been investigating the men after receiving reports of the suspects buying quantities of over-the-counter cold medicine at area stores, Crow Wing County Sheriff Eric Klang said today.

Along with a quantity of methamphetamine, equipment and products used in the manufacture of methamphetamine as well as a 9 mm handgun were found in the vehicle.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension assisted with the dismantling of the equipment and the processing of the crime scene.

The suspects are being held in the Crow Wing County Jail on second-degree possession of a controlled substance, first-degree manufacturing of a controlled substance and felony possession of a firearm. Formal charges are pending with the Crow Wing County Attorney's Office.