Police in Richmond are crediting an alert citizen for alerting them to a potential drug lab.

Someone called police Thursday to report a strange odour in the area of the 11000-block of Cambie Road.

Cpl. Stephanie Ashton said police found “what can best be described as a pre-cursor lab where it appears the chemicals needed to make meth were being broken down.”

Sisters Maanpreet and Harleen Aulkh, who live nearby, call the discovery scary.

"You wouldn't want something like this in your neighbourhood nearby," Maanpreet said.

The Lower Mainland Clandestine Lab Team is assisting with the cleanup, and one lane of Cambie Street was closed for several hours.

So far, no arrests have been made.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Richmond RCMP.