LACONIA - Nine people were charged after police broke up an underage drinking party early Thursday morning at 227 Eastman Shore Road North.

Police arrived at the home at 12:25 a.m. to find four to five people drunk in the driveway and others trying to hide inside the residence. Investigators did not release the name of the 17-year-old who hosted the party.

According to a news release, officers could smell an "overwhelming odor of alcohol" coming from the home and saw numerous alcohol containers strewn about the residence.

Police tried to talk to those inside but no one would answer the door, so they obtained a search warrant and found another 21 young people inside, some hiding in small locked closets.The youngest who had been drinking was 14 years old, police said. Nine people were cited for intoxication; four were under the age of 18.

Police released the names of those over the age of 18, who were arrested for unlawful intoxication (internal possession). They are Christopher Grene, 19, Andrew Hawthorne, 19, Kerry Gagnon, 19, and Jeffrey Roy, 19, all of Laconia; Kimberlee Deinema, 20, of Canaan, Vt.

Meredith and Gilford police assisted Laconia officers at the scene as well as throughout the night in handling calls for service that came in during the incident.

Police said the incident remains under investigation.