By Dan Hartill,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – Police and drug agents Wednesday raided a Lewiston home suspected of housing a lab for manufacturing the drug methamphetamine.

While dozens of firefighters and paramedics watched, five officers in protective suits burst into the second-story apartment at about 9:40 p.m. at 624 Sabattus St.

As of 11 p.m., police released no details of what they found inside.

The raid followed a frenzied day of activity for police, begun by a morning tip about the alleged lab and continuing with the arrest of the apartment’s inhabitants on charges of manufacturing the illegal drug.

Police arrested Louis Rubino, 25, and Donna Pagnani, 21.

Rubino was arrested by Androscoggin County Sheriff’s deputies in Poland. Lewiston police arrested Pagnani on Ash Street, about one mile from the couple’s home.

Police located the suspected lab – in the couple’s apartment – shortly after 1 p.m.

Because the chemicals used in brewing methamphetamines can be both explosive and toxic, police immediately ordered that the apartment building be evacuated.

Police sent four people to the hospital, including a 3-year-old girl who shared the apartment with Rubino and Pagnani, said Michael Bussiere, Lewiston’s deputy police chief. All four were treated and released.

Police took the girl into protective custody, where she was handed over to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Meanwhile, officers worked on getting inside the four-unit apartment house, located at the corner of Sabattus and Laurier streets.

During their evacuation, police managed to glimpse evidence of the lab, Bussiere said, though he declined to detail what was found.

That evidence was used to secure the warrant needed for police to raid the apartment and perform a detailed search.

The search was preceded by hours of waiting.

Police brought their new critical incident response unit, a $100,000-plus mobile command truck, to the scene.

Needed signatures for the warrant and last-minute equipment needs delayed entry for several hours. More than two dozen emergency workers waited in the cold for the details to be complete.

“We need to do this right, without mistakes,” Bussiere said.

About 9 p.m., agents donned plastic white suits, duct taping the tops of their gloves and boots to ensure a seal.

Then, they strapped on oxygen tanks and masks, all aimed at protecting them from the chemicals they expected to find inside.

They finally entered in single file, resembling deep sea divers.

Bussiere expects to see more such scenes, he said.

“We’ve been warned for years that this was coming,” he said of the drug. “It’s here now.”

Methamphetamines ravage people, rapidly addicting them and often aging their appearance by decades.

Fewer than six meth labs have been discovered in Maine, he said.

He believes many more are out there.

“This is only the tip of the iceberg,” Bussiere said.

Mark LaFlamme and Doug Fletcher contributed to this report.

Methamphetamines are synthetic amphetamines or stimulants that are produced and sold illegally in pill form, capsules, powders and chunks.

Amphetamines are chemicals with stimulant properties similar to adrenaline. Like adrenaline, methamphetamines stimulate the central nervous system, and are extremely addictive.

After the effects of meth wear off, it can cause severe withdrawal that is more intense and longer lasting than both speed and cocaine.

Methamphetamines may be known as meth, crank, glass, speed, crystal, ice, batu, chalk, shabu or zip.

Source: Koch Crime Institute

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