Full Notification

Peru – Recently members of the CLEAN Team assisted the Miami County Probation Department with searches that resulted in five arrests on various drug related charges.  

Officers from the Miami County Probation Department and the CLEAN Team went to an apartment building at 14 East 2^nd Street, Peru, IN, to conduct a search of an apartment where a probationer allegedly resided. There were numerous apartments in the building and none were marked with an apartment number or letter.  Officers knocked on apartment doors in an effort to find the apartment where the probationer lived.  While speaking to a man, who answered the door to apartment C, officers allegedly smelled a chemical odor emitting from the apartment. The officers recognized the chemical odor as the same scent emitted during the manufacturing of methamphetamine. Officers also purportedly observed chemicals associated with the manufacturing of methamphetamine. The man who answered the door, identified as Timothy Collins II, 22, Peru, IN, was removed from the apartment. This was not the apartment where the probationer lived.

While the plain clothes officers were standing outside apartment C, Frank Zinn, 50, the renter of the apartment, returned home and approached them. Zinn allegedly was under the impression that the police officers were Christmas carolers who were in front of his apartment to sing. He quickly realized he was wrong when officers identified themselves and placed Zinn in handcuffs. Officers applied for and were granted a Miami Circuit Court search warrant for Zinn’s apartment. During a subsequent search, officers allegedly found a methamphetamine lab, methamphetamine, chemical precursors associated with the manufacturing of methamphetamine, hypodermic needles, and drug paraphernalia. Zinn and Collins were both incarcerated in the Miami County Jail to face criminal charges for possession of methamphetamine, possession of hypodermic needles, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Zinn faces an additional charge for maintaining a common nuisance. Collins faces additional charges for manufacturing methamphetamine and possession of chemical precursors.  Further investigation revealed Collins was wanted on a Cass Superior Court II arrest warrant for possession of marijuana.  The apartment where the probationer resided was found on the same floor as Zinn’s apartment.

Officers from the Miami County Probation Department, assisted by members of the CLEAN Team, conducted a probation search on the home of  Amber Bowder, 35, 12 Plaza Drive Peru, IN. During the search officers allegedly found methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. Jeffrey Miller, 43, and Drea Combs, 45, both from Peru, were also at the residence. All three were incarcerated in the Miami County Jail. Bowder faces charges for possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia, and maintaining a common nuisance. Combs faces charges for visiting a common nuisance, possession of methamphetamine, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Miller faces a charge of visiting a common nuisance.  

The CLEAN Team is a task force of 11 law enforcement entities that have dedicated resources to fight narcotics in Fulton and Miami Counties. CLEAN stands for Combined Law Enforcement Against Narcotics.  The main focus of the CLEAN Team is narcotics enforcement with an emphasis on methamphetamine related crimes. 

Law enforcement officers encourage anyone with information about the possession, distribution, or manufacturing of narcotics to call their local law enforcement agency or the Indiana State Police Drug Tip Line at 1-800-453-4756. Information can be reported anonymously.

All criminal defendants are to be presumed innocent until, and unless    proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.