Meth related arrests made across from courthouse

LACONIA — A woman and two men, all charged with possessing and conspiring to manufacture illicit drugs, were arrested yesterday following a search of a unit at 21 Academy Street, directly across the street from the county courthouse.

Donald G. Doucet, 40, Joel Paquette, 42 and Christy Lynn Jarrell, 29, all of 21 Academy Street, Unit 6, were held in Belknap County Jail in lieu of cash bail pending their arraignment in 4th Circuit Court, Laconia Division this morning.

According to a statement from the Sheriff's Department, at around 11:30 a.m. Deputy Justin Blanchette observed one of the two men, who he did not identify, engaged in suspicious activity outside the apartment building. He was subsequently found in possession of methamphetamine and arrested.

Later, apparently suspecting a methamphetamine laboratory might be operating in the building, officers from the Sheriff's Department, with assistance from the Laconia Police and Fire Departments, executed a search warrant at the man's apartment, where they found other controlled and narcotic drugs together with materials commonly used to produce methamphetamine. There were no allegations that there was an active drug-making operation discovered at the time of the search.

On Saturday, shortly before 1 p.m., Jarrell was arrested after being found in the parking lot of the nearby Walgreen's drugstore in illegal possession of a hypodermic needle.