A Winona Lake man was in custody Thursday morning after officers discovered a meth lab in his residence near an elementary school.

An undercover Kosciusko County Drug Task Force was conducting surveillance in the Winona Lake area Wednesday evening and noted the strong odor associated making methamphetamine near the corner of Chestnut Avenue and 14th Street, according to a written statement issued by the task force.

It said a Winona Lake officer and a Kosciusko County sheriff’s deputy joined in the search and that the officers tracked the scent to an address in the 100 block of 14th Street about 7:45 p.m.

After getting a search warrant, task force members found an active one-pot method meth lab inside a Mason jar, the statement said.

Meth is made using volatile hazardous chemicals that can burst into flames or explode, so glass is seldom used.

The Winona Lake Fire Department stayed on the scene until the Indiana State Police Clandestine Lab Team arrived to secure the hazardous material.

The homeowner, Richard Earl Green, 60, was preliminarily charged with felony manufacturing methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of a school.

Jefferson Elementary School is north of his residence.

The Kosciusko County Prosecutor’s Office was holding Green without bond until later Thursday morning.