Police confronted an Iowa Taco Bell employee and his alleged accomplice outside of a Taco Bell around 5 a.m. Tuesday morning. What were they doing there before breakfast but after fourthmeal™? Cooking meth, or something?

Yes—they were cooking meth, allegedly.

Chris Matous, 31, and Kent Duby, 56, told police that one of them was a Taco Bell employee and the other was not. When the cops called the location to confirm the two men’s story, the manager was asked to make sure everything was OK inside. Everything was, luckily, save for the remnants of a meth lab that had apparently been set up “in a utility area.”

Matous was arrested for possession of methamphetamine and various meth ingredients, and both men were charged with conspiracy to manufacture. Whichever one of them worked at the Taco Bell—police didn’t specify, and neither did Taco Bell’s statement—has been fired from the restaurant.

Taco Bell would like to be very clear that the alleged meth cooking didn’t occur in the kitchen, and that finding a meth lab inside a Taco Bell is an isolated incident, and there’s definitely nothing about Taco Bell that should make you guys think otherwise. Why would you associate Taco Bell with meth I mean haha that’s crazy right (spokesperson tugs nervously on collar):

“We understand that two people, one an employee, entered our franchisee’s restaurant illegally, allegedly possessing suspicious items. Both we and our franchisee find this completely unacceptable. Our franchisee has been cooperating with Cedar Rapids Police to investigate this isolated incident. Although the suspicious items found in the restaurant were not used in the kitchen, the employee has been terminated and our franchisee is considering pressing criminal charges. The restaurant will reopen after it has been sanitized inspected by the Health Department.”

That’s good, because some people wanted to eat there, okay?

[Photo: CBS2 Iowa]