A big drug bust last night near Red Oak has nine people in custody. Deputy Mills County Sheriff Evan York says he was patrolling about seven P.M. in the town of Emerson when he saw someone familiar. It was a subject he knew happens to be barred from driving, pulling into an alley behind a house. When the deputy confronted the man he denied he’d been driving so York called for another deputy and they went to the house. Before they got up to it, York says the officers could see in a window of the home, and saw the activity underway inside. Upon walking up to the residence, he says they saw through a kitchen window two people inside bagging up a white powder. The deputies called for assistance, but before more officers could arrive, a car drove up into the driveway of the house and they arrested its driver. About that time the deputies decided to request a warrant…but York says time was running out. Afraid they’d be noticed by the people inside, York and the other deputy went in and arrested all the people in the house. He says they contacted the county attorney, searched the house, found a small amount of meth and a working meth lab. Emerson, about ten miles west of Red Oak, is a town of fewer than 500 people but deputy York says methamphetamine isn’t rare in the rural area. Nine people in all were arrested, from Emerson, Corning and Omaha.