Two nabbed in meth bust

Two Chestnut Street residents were selling up to a pound of methamphetamine per month from their apartment near Yuba City High School, a drug enforcement official said Tuesday.

Photos of customers found on a computer in the apartment are being studied to determine if any were high school students, said Mike Hudson, commander of the Yuba-Sutter Narcotic Enforcement Team, or NET-5.

NET-5 agents took a search warrant to the apartment in the 700 block of Chestnut at 7 a.m. Tuesday and arrested Bruce Richard Burwell, 62, and Gordon Edward McCollum, 60.

Burwell apparently was keeping photos of customers using meth "out of arrogance that he would never be caught," said Hudson.

Information received by NET-5 during an investigation that started in late December indicated some customers might be students, he said.

"We know for sure some are in their early 20s, if not late teens. We know that," Hudson said.

The suspects obtained meth an ounce at a time and charged customers $20 to $40 for one-quarter of a gram or about $150 for one-eighth of an ounce, said Hudson.

Hudson said it hasn't been determined where the meth was manufactured. It was not at the four-unit apartment building where the men live, he said.

Evidence found in the apartment included meth, marijuana, $1,250 in cash and ammunition.

Both men were arrested on suspicion of possessing meth for sale. Additional charges against Burwell, who served a drug-related prison sentence, include possession of ammunition by a felon and maintaining a residence for drug sales.

Bail was set at $100,000 for Burwell, $20,000 for McCollum.

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Rob Young at 749-4710 or at ryoung@appealdemocrat.com