Airbnb guests turn couple’s home into a meth lab

Airbnb guests turn couple's home into a meth lab

OMAHA, Nebraska – Guests at an Airbnb turned a couple’s home into a meth lab.

Daniel and Jocelyn Medrano, a couple from Omaha, Nebraska, are dealing with a homeowner’s nightmare after their Airbnb guests converted their home into a meth lab while they were out of state visiting family.

The Medranos had been renting out their home south of downtown Omaha on Airbnb for two years. During the holidays, they received a booking that appeared too good to pass up.

“Probably one of the best bookings we’ve ever had, 11-day stay. We were ecstatic because that alone paid for our trip to Florida,” Daniel Medrano told WOWT.

The couple reported that communicating with the guest was difficult from the start. The guest arrived on the second day of his stay, but trouble quickly ensued.

“All of a sudden, he brings two or three men to the house who are not from the reservation. So I have to message him and say, ‘Hey, you cannot do that, that is against Airbnb policy,'” Jocelyn Medrano told the outlet.

The Medranos kept an eye on their home using surveillance cameras that had been installed outside the month before. They observed as the men brought suspicious items into the house, such as utility fans and cooking pots.

“We called him the original guy, and he came with four bags of white powder. They were heavy; the guy was carrying large bags of powder, I believe they weighed at least 50 pounds, and he began storing them in our home,” Daniel Medrano told the outlet.

Jocelyn Medrano, fearing the worst, sent a tip to Crime Stoppers after several attempts to contact police. The Omaha Police Department responded quickly and, with the Medranos’ consent, established surveillance.

“They got into a vehicle and drove away; we followed them and conducted a traffic stop. We used our K-9 handlers; they arrived on the scene, ran a dog around the car, and received a positive alert for narcotics,” Lieutenant Steve Fornoff of the OPD Narcotics Unit told WOWT reporters.

Authorities discovered more than 100 pounds of meth and two to three pounds of liquid meth made in just over a week. The arrest of the three suspects brought enormous relief to the Medranos. However, their ordeal wasn’t over. The house was left in disarray, with chemical dust, a strong ammonia odor, and shards of meth embedded in the carpet where their children played.

“They used our bedroom as a drying room, and in my daughter’s room, they dried the crystal meth. Daniel Medrano told the station that they cook the crystal meth in our kitchen and then dry it in our bedrooms.

The couple’s home is currently unlivable and needs extensive cleaning, leaving them with a large cleaning bill.

“Our very first preliminary estimate they gave us, without replacing furniture, without replacing paint or anything, would be over $26,000,” according to Jocelyn Medrano of WOWT.

The Medranos expect to return home in three or four months, and they are working with Airbnb and contractors to start rebuilding. They are currently staying with friends as they seek to reclaim their lives.

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