While the majority of Boone County residents were sleeping, the Boone County Sheriff’s Department made a surprise drug bust at 2 a.m. Sunday morning. The event took place at the Park Avenue Motel, where Shannon Jett, and Marrie Gillispie, were discovered by police with all the chemicals necessary in the manufacturing of Meth. Shannon Jett, 34, of Danville, and Marrie Gillispie, 30, of Foster, were arrested and charged with conspiracy and operating a clandestine Meth lab. “Thankfully, we were able to stop them before they had started cooking anything,” Boone County Chief Deputy Chad Barker said. According to Barker, it was an anonymous tip called in on the tip line, 304-369-7387, that led police to the hotel. Barker said that the owners of the hotel were not aware of the pair’s intentions at cooking Meth, and expressed their gratitude to the Boone County Sheriff’s Department. “If they had cooked those chemicals, it would have been dangerous not just for themselves, but for anyone else who may have been staying there, with the chemicals being circulated through the air ducts,” Barker said. “Also, those gasses are heavier than air and the residue can remain in the room, on the floor, unseen, tasteless and odorless. If a family were to come in the next night and a child stir up those gasses up, it could have posed a danger there, too,” Barker said. “We’re glad we got there before they began cooking the Meth and we want to thank the public for their help in apprehending these two people. We do follow up on the tips that we get on the tip line,” he said. Barker said that officers in Boone County started seeing an increase in the number of Meth labs in the area beginning in 2003. Then, he says, in 2004 and 2005, there was a decrease when new legislation designed to combat the sale of items commonly used in the production of Meth was put into place. “Usually, what we find is that these people are making Meth for their own personal use and if they do sell it, it’s so they can buy more products to make more,” Barker said. Barker encourages the public to continue to help their community through anonymous tips to either the 369-7387 tip line or through email at sheriff@boonecountywv.net. Both Jett and Gillispie are being held at the Southwestern Regional Jail each on $150,000 bond, or $15,000 cash bail. “It’s a good bond; that Meth lab was not just a danger to them, but a danger to others,” Barker said. If indicted and found guilty, they could each face up to 15 years in prison.