A Standish couple were arrested Wednesday and charged with operating a methamphetamine lab on the property where they lived with their four children, police said.

Jeffrey Makela, 34, and his wife, Nicole Makela, 32, were arrested Wednesday afternoon at their home at 12 Maple Ridge Drive after the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, acting on a tip, found a meth manufacturing operation on their property.

Nicole Makela and Jeffrey Makela Photo courtesy of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office

The Makelas’ children – a 3-week-old baby, a 15-month-old boy, and two girls, 10 and 12 – were taken into protective custody by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. The gender of the baby was not known.

All four children were transported to Maine Medical Center as a precautionary measure to ensure that they had not been exposed to the caustic chemicals that are used to manufacture the powerful drug.

MDEA Commander Scott Pelletier said the family lived in a relatively new home that had been rebuilt following a fire that took place about a year ago. Evidence of meth manufacturing was found inside the residence, but Pelletier said active pots were found outside the house in the yard.

Jeffrey Makela was being held without bail at the Cumberland County Jail Wednesday night. In addition to being charged with unlawful operating of a meth lab, he was charged with violating his bail conditions.

Makela had been out on bail since August for operating a meth lab in Portland. He and an accomplice were charged with operating a meth lab using a motor vehicle. Portland police discovered the operation during a traffic stop on Somerset Street.

Nicole Makela was being held at the jail on $5,000 cash bail.