Police on Cape Cod have arrested a homeless man on alleged drug distribution charges at the former cranberry bogs in Yarmouth.
Police said officers converged on the area off Bayview Street, adjacent to Cape Cod Hospital, on Friday afternoon, to issue trespass notices to the homeless people that have established camps on the property.
When officers discovered a remote camp site containing five tents, police announced their presence, but did not get a response from anyone inside the tents.
Authorities said an additional check of two of the tents were found to contain "the items generally associated with an improvised methamphetamine lab."
Among the items seized were 5 gallon propane tanks, several dozen batteries, a burner, and an array of household chemicals.
After the United States Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration was contacted, the Massachusetts State Police Bomb Squad and the Massachusetts Hazardous Chemical response unit were called to the scene.
A short time later, police found Stewart Catchings, 31, on a bicycle, exiting the area. Police said he was detained and placed under arrest in connection with the manufacturing of methamphetamine.
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Catchings is currently being held at Yarmouth Police Department Headquarters on $10,000 cash bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned Monday in Barnstable District Court.
