One Worth County drug suspect still on the loose - WALB.com, Albany News, Weather, Sports

One Worth County drug suspect still on the loose

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November 12, 2007

Sumner--  A drug bust led to an all out manhunt in Worth County through woods and dirt roads. One suspect remains on the loose after drug agents busted a meth lab in Sumner.  

A helicopter searched the Sumner sky. Down on the ground, Worth County deputies looked through binoculars for any sign or glimmer of two drug suspects on the loose.

"We were sitting here watching all the police cars go by and all that.  It's kind of crazy," said resident Luke Jones.

Luke Jones says this is normally a quiet neighborhood.

"It's weird that it could happen right here," said Jones. Turns out right down the street from his home on Pine Forest Road, two men were quietly cooking methamphetamine in the woods. Drug agents made the the bust sometime after 2 Monday afternoon.

"Two drug units was down here in the woods and had a meth lab and the fellas ran," said Sheriff Freddie Tompkins. By mid afternoon, the search began for the two men. Bloodhounds and law enforcement quickly found 37-year-old Paul Milton Bryan hiding. He was quickly taken away in the back of a police car.

"It was a meth lab back there. It was set up in a camouflage tent and had a four wheeler with a bunch of materials they used on the back of the four wheeler," said Tompkins.

There was plenty left behind in the woods off of Gibbs Road. Late in the evening, the Clandestine Lab Response Team suited up and removed tanks and several bags of white powder. It's believed the operation has been here in these Sumner woods for months.

"It's not as big as some we've caught over here but it's bigger than most of them," said Tompkins.

So far, Bryan is charged with the manufacturing of methamphetamine. His friend will also be charged once he's caught. "I hope they catch him. It's right here close to the house," said Jones.

He's still somewhere out there. That means the quiet of Luke Jones' neighborhood will be disrupted again as day two of the search begins at daybreak.

Bryan is no stranger to drugs. He was paroled in May after a methamphetamine conviction. If you know anything about the other suspect's whereabouts, contact Worth County authorities.

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