Palmerton police discovered a one-pot meth operation in March while serving a warrant on a reported parole violator.

On March 23, police officers were serving a warrant along with state parole agents at an apartment on the 800 block of Mauch Chunk Road.

The agents arrested the person named in the warrant, John Duncan Holzer, 48, inside the apartment.

While inside the apartment’s living room, Palmerton Police saw a baggie of what they suspected to be marijuana.

Police told the person renting the apartment they planned to secure the property to get a search warrant. They reportedly gave police permission to search it instead.

In the kitchen they found a jar containing a substance that tested positive for chemicals used in meth.

In the living room they also found cold medicine, chemicals and household items, which they said are commonly used in a one-pot meth operation.

Police charged Holzer with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, possessing liquified ammonia gas, two counts of operating a meth lab, and causing or risking a catastrophe - all felonies.

Holzer was arraigned with bail set at $150,000. He is currently in a state prison for violating the terms of his parole from a 2019 sentence on drug charges.