Agents Discover Meth Lab After Raid On Apartment, Cda Couple Arrested Second Time On Drug Count

Narcotics agents have arrested a Coeur d’Alene couple for the second time in two months on charges they operated a methamphetamine lab out of their apartment.

Michael G. Holsten, 29, and Carol L. Ess, 24, both appeared before a judge Tuesday on a charge of manufacturing methamphetamine with the intent to deliver it. Bail was set for each at $30,000.

State Criminal Investigation Bureau agents found a lab and about a gallon of finished methamphetamine oil inside apartment 314 at 1053 Emma Ave., said Wayne Longo, special agent in charge. Monday’s discovery, and another unrelated bust Tuesday, brought the number of methamphetamine labs seized this year to 30 - only 10 shy of last year’s total.

In Tuesday’s bust, state agents arrested Susan Connell, 46, on a charge of manufacturing methamphetamine during a raid on her Cataldo home. Officers also plan to seek an arrest warrant for Connell’s husband, Longo said.

During Monday’s raid, Holsten and Ess were making methamphetamine when officers entered their apartment, Longo said. Holsten tried to slip out a door when officers entered the apartment through the front door, and Ess was crawling out a window, Longo said.

Both were arrested without a confrontation.

Monday’s drug-making arrests were the second in recent months for the couple.

Kootenai County Drug Task Force officers arrested Holsten in March for traffic violations. Officers later searched the Emma Avenue apartment Holsten shares with Ess and found evidence of a methamphetamine lab, according to 1st District Court records.

Holsten and Hess are both awaiting preliminary hearings later this month on charges of manufacturing methamphetamine with the intent to deliver the drug stemming from their March arrest. Holsten, who also was arrested on charges of obstructing officers, racing on a public roadway and failing to carry a driver’s license, was free on $6,000 bail.

This sidebar appeared with the story: A RECORD? Monday’s discovery, and another unrelated bust Tuesday, brought the number of methamphetamine labs seized this year to 30 - only 10 shy of last year’s total.