Block where meth lab was busted becoming dangerous, tenants say

People who live in a Wolseley-area apartment block where police discovered a methamphetamine lab Thursday morning say they are becoming afraid to live in the building.

Winnipeg police executed a search warrant on a third-floor suite at Madison Memorial Lodge around midnight Wednesday, forcing about 85 residents out of the building, located in the 200 block of Evanson Street.

Police found chemicals, filters, glassware and packaging material related to meth production in the suite. A small amount of marijuana was also seized.

Once police determined the chemicals and cooking paraphernalia in the suite posed no safety risk, residents were allowed back inside around 2:30 a.m.

The search came on the heels of the arrest of a 27-year-old man earlier Wednesday evening. The man has since been charged with production of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance and breach of probation.

Neighbours said the man who lived in the suite that was raided had moved into the building only recently.

Madison Memorial Lodge is a residence run by a not-for-profit corporation that provides low-cost room and board to about 85 people, including seniors and people with mental and physical disabilities.

The building isn't a licensed rooming house or a group home; it's an apartment-style building with a common kitchen. No health or mental-health services are offered on-site.

Several tenants told CBC News the building has become more dangerous in recent years.

"It's not a shock anymore to hear police cars here or ambulances or anything," said Mike Hayter, who has lived in the building for several years. "When I first moved in here, it was a lot quieter of a building … There wasn't nearly as much action, and if a police car did pull up or an ambulance, everybody wanted to know what was going on."

"I'm starting to get the impression that it's more of a crack house than a real boarding house. I really hate to say that because it is a nice facility, and the women who run it — the administrator and the manager — are very competent, … but even they can't keep this under control," he said.

In March 2007, the same building was the site of two deaths: Police shot and killed building resident Ahmed Saleh-Azad, 61, who they said fatally stabbed another resident, 57-year-old Alexander Kolesny, and wounded another in a communal area of the building.

At the time, tenants and neighbours in the area said the building was often the site of arguments and fights among residents.

The building's management did not return calls from CBC News.