By Sheila McLaughlin
The Cincinnati Enquirer

FRANKLIN - Three people at a South Main Street residence were arrested early Wednesday in a federal raid on a methamphetamine lab.

It is the first time federal authorities have prosecuted a case involving a meth lab in Warren County, where local drug agents have busted more than 20 of the illegal operations since discovering the county's first lab in July 2000.

"Throughout the country, the DEA takes these federally. It depends on the size of the operation and the length of the operation," said Richard Cerniglia, resident agent in charge of the DEA's Cincinnati office.

"We don't have the manpower. We can't take every case that comes up."

He wouldn't release the names of the woman and two men who were taken into custody because they won't officially be charged until they appear in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati today.

The raid, at 765 S. Main St., assisted by the Warren-Clinton Drug and Strategic Operations Task Force and Franklin Police, ended a seven-month investigation that started with a parking complaint in March.

About 10 people, including a 7-year-old child and a 17-year-old, were home when authorities raided the house, which is owned by Karen R. Parker, according to county property records.

No one could be reached at the house Wednesday evening. The children were turned over to relatives and the children's services agency, Mr. Cerniglia said.

John Burke, commander of the county drug task force, said the suspects were cooking the illegal drug using red phosphorous - the same substance found on a match head - instead of anhydrous ammonia, which is a more common ingredient in Ohio's methamphetamine trade.

It was only the second time that local agents came across suspects cooking methamphetamine with red phosphorous, which makes the manufacturing process a bit easier, Mr. Burke said.

"Some people shave match heads," Mr. Cerniglia said of the sources of red phosphorous. "I know from past cases it's been bought over the Internet."

He declined to comment on what was confiscated from the single-family house.

E-mail smclaughlin@enquirer.com