Two men arrested after police discover meth lab inside Taco Bell

'Both we and our franchisee find this completely unacceptable'

Justin Carissimo
Wednesday 05 August 2015 16:09 BST
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Officials have arrested two men who are accused of running a meth lab at a Taco Bell restaurant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The Cedar Rapids Police Department told KWWL that two men were outside the local fast food restaurant early on Tuesday morning — one identifying himself as a Taco Bell employee.

Officers phoned the chain's manager and upon entering, found evidence of a meth operation.

Christopher Adam Matous, 31, and Kent Jerome Duby, 56, were both arrested and charged with conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine.

"I take her for breakfast here usually every other morning for a hashbrown — coming to find out they may cook meth and serve my daughter a hashbrown in the morning... is disgusting," Brian Hines, a customer, told KCRG.

On Wednesday night, the fast food chain released a statement saying that the employee — an assistant manager — was fired and the restaurant would be properly cleaned before reopening.

"We understand that two people, one an employee, entered our franchisee’s restaurant illegally, allegedly possessing suspicious items. Both we and our franchisee find this completely unacceptable.

"Our franchisee has been cooperating with Cedar Rapids Police to investigate this isolated incident. Although the suspicious items found in the restaurant were not used in the kitchen, the employee has been terminated and our franchisee is considering pressing criminal charges.

"The restaurant will reopen after it has been sanitized and inspected by the Health Department."

Taco Bell currently operates nearly 6,000 restaurants across the US with more than 36 million customers weekly.

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