LISBON - Last Friday's search of suspected meth labs in Wellsville and Salineville resulted in charges being filed against a 45-year-old Wellsville man.

Scott A. Barnhart, 45, of Broadway Avenue, was charged by the Columbiana County Drug Task Force with possessing chemicals used to manufacture illegal drugs, a felony. He was arraigned Monday in county Common Pleas Court, where a preliminary hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. Thursday.

Meanwhile, Barnhart is being held in the county jail on $500,000 cash or surety bond set by Judge Carol Robb. A county public defender was appointed to represent him.

According to the arrest affidavit filed in court by a drug task force agent, a warrant was obtained Friday from a county Common Pleas Court judge to search Barnhart's Wellsville home based on information they obtained about a meth lab being operated on the premises.

DTF Director Dan Downard said the agents "found some drug paraphernalia but not what we were looking for."

Barnhart, who was home, reportedly told the agents the meth lab had been there the day before but he received a tip they were going to raid his home, so he relocated the operation to a house trailer on Mill Street in Salineville. He further admitted to reassembling the lab in the trailer and cooking meth there on Thursday.

The agents proceeded to the Mill Street address and found the meth lab as described by Barnhart, resulting in the charges filed against him.

Downard said the house trailer is a rental property and the previous tenant recently was sentenced to prison after being convicted of the same charge facing Barnhart.

The same day this raid was under way, East Liverpool police discovered a mobile meth lab in a car following a traffic stop. A still smoldering bag was removed from the backseat, along with chemicals commonly used in the manufacture of methamphetamines.

The drug task force also assisted in the East Liverpool situation, as did agents from the local office of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, who were also involved in the Wellsville and Salineville searches.

tgiambroni@mojonews.com