TheHitMan
February 15th, 2004, 11:36 AM
http://www.modbee.com/images/sheriff_drug_lab.wmv
At a press conference Monday, drug agents Lt. Marvin Harper, left, and Sgt. Mike Richards display guns and drugs found at the home on Carpenter Road in Modesto in which an enormous meth lab was uncovered Saturday.
The inside of the house on Carpenter Road can be seen above. Agents raided the house Saturday, but the toxic fumes from the cooking of drugs were so strong the agents retreated to put on protective gear.
Narcotics agents seized ingredients to make more than $1 million worth of methamphetamine when they raided the largest drug lab in Stanislaus County history.
Five men -- all illegal immigrants -- were in custody Monday, and authorities had cordoned off a house filled with toxic fumes and chemicals. The house is at 13660 Carpenter Road, almost 14 miles south of Modesto and a mile north of Crows Landing Road.
Law enforcement agents showed off mounds of pure ephedrine -- the key ingredient in the dangerous stimulant, also known as crank.
Agents seized about 80 pounds of ephedrine in a car that left the house. Agents said they also found pseudoephedrine tablets in the house -- enough to produce 86 pounds of ephedrine -- soaking in 100 gallons of solution.
Officers confiscated other chemicals as well, officials said, and assorted loaded guns.
If the cooking process had been completed, the wholesale value of the methamphetamine would have been more than $1.1 million. Officials said the street value could have topped $6 million, after the meth had been cut with other substances or diluted.
"The capacity of this lab was huge -- bigger than we've ever seen in Stanislaus County before," said sheriff's Sgt. Mike Richards, who was among the 14 officers involved in the raid Saturday night and Sunday morning.
Members of the Stanislaus Drug Enforcement Agency, California Multi-Jurisdictional Methamphetamine Enforcement Team and High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area team worked on the case.
Officers said they watched the Carpenter Road house for several days last week. Surveillance started after community members tipped off authorities to suspicious activity.
"This lab, it appears, has been operating for months," sheriff's Lt. Marvin Harper said. "There's no telling how much of this poison they've been putting out on the street."
Harper said all eight rooms of the home, plus the basement and attic, were being used for cooking meth or storing supplies.
Officers obtained a search warrant for the home Saturday evening. While preparing for the raid about 7 p.m., Harper said, undercover agents saw a man carry garbage bags from the home to a car, then drive off.
When officers pulled that car over, they discovered the 80 pounds of powdered ephedrine. The driver, Jose Aguilar Zaragoza, 36, of Mexico, was arrested on suspicion of manufacturing methamphetamine and possession of a controlled substance for sale.
Back at the house, agents entered through the front door while at least four suspects ran out the back.
"We got about 10 feet into the residence before we had to retreat after being overcome by the fumes," Richards said.
There were meth ingredients cooking, making it hard to breathe, he said. They stayed out of the house until they could put on protective clothing and breathing gear.
Outside, officers chased suspects through tall grass, fields and the countryside with the help of a sheriff's helicopter and a dog.
The dog, Zeke, tracked down and bit the legs of two suspects, Misael Taviera, 26, and Mario Alvanez, 30, both of Mexico.
Their minor wounds were treated at a hospital, then they were booked -- along with suspect Raul Serrato Calles, 21, also of Mexico -- on suspicion of manufacturing methamphetamine, criminal conspiracy and resisting arrest.
Also arrested was Raul Torres, 68, of Mexico, who was found in a trailer near the home. During that arrest, Torres allegedly punched one of the officers in the face, bloodying his nose.
That officer, deputy Mike Richards Jr., is Sgt. Richards' son.
"He's OK. It's not his first bloody nose, and it won't be his last," Sgt. Richards said of his son.
Torres was booked on suspicion of battery on a police officer, resisting arrest, manufacturing methamphetamine, criminal conspiracy and an unrelated Turlock Police Department warrant for stolen property.
All five of the suspects were being held without bail in county jail, and illegal immigrant holds had been placed on them to prevent their release.
At least one suspect got away, authorities said.
While all five of those arrested could face more than 10 years in prison if convicted under federal laws, Harper said the men were not major players in the drug trade.
"These people probably are just the cooks," Harper said.
Illegal immigrants routinely are brought into the country by drug rings to work in meth labs.
"You don't have to be a brain surgeon to make meth," he said.
While this was the largest meth lab found in the county
Richards said it was the seventh lab to be uncovered since Jan. 1.
The Carpenter Road house now is considered contaminated with toxic waste. Officials said state funds will be used to clean up the pollution.
County authorities still are searching for the lab's dumping ground.
"Hundreds and hundreds of pounds of toxic waste" were produced by the lab, Harper estimated.
Additional suspects involved in the lab were being sought, but officials did not provide descriptions during a Monday morning news conference.
Here is what they said was confiscated from the house or the car that left the house:
80 pounds of pure ephedrine powder.
100 gallons of solution containing pseudoephedrine tablets.
300 gallons of alcohol.
96 pounds of red phosphorous.
30 gallons of muriatic acid.
30 pounds of iodine.
3 cases of Red Devil Lye.
Assorted generators, heating devices, cooking pots and flasks.
Empty bottles of pseudo-ephedrine tables.
Two shotguns, a rifle and a .45-caliber Tech 9 semiautomatic gun with a threaded barrel for use with a silencer.
Props to LoW_JacK.
This may be a warning to all you home chemists! What do you think on this bust?
I think the video is a little low quality for it to have been shot by someone from the DEA, after all don't they have a unlimited budget? To help protect the children of course!
At a press conference Monday, drug agents Lt. Marvin Harper, left, and Sgt. Mike Richards display guns and drugs found at the home on Carpenter Road in Modesto in which an enormous meth lab was uncovered Saturday.
The inside of the house on Carpenter Road can be seen above. Agents raided the house Saturday, but the toxic fumes from the cooking of drugs were so strong the agents retreated to put on protective gear.
Narcotics agents seized ingredients to make more than $1 million worth of methamphetamine when they raided the largest drug lab in Stanislaus County history.
Five men -- all illegal immigrants -- were in custody Monday, and authorities had cordoned off a house filled with toxic fumes and chemicals. The house is at 13660 Carpenter Road, almost 14 miles south of Modesto and a mile north of Crows Landing Road.
Law enforcement agents showed off mounds of pure ephedrine -- the key ingredient in the dangerous stimulant, also known as crank.
Agents seized about 80 pounds of ephedrine in a car that left the house. Agents said they also found pseudoephedrine tablets in the house -- enough to produce 86 pounds of ephedrine -- soaking in 100 gallons of solution.
Officers confiscated other chemicals as well, officials said, and assorted loaded guns.
If the cooking process had been completed, the wholesale value of the methamphetamine would have been more than $1.1 million. Officials said the street value could have topped $6 million, after the meth had been cut with other substances or diluted.
"The capacity of this lab was huge -- bigger than we've ever seen in Stanislaus County before," said sheriff's Sgt. Mike Richards, who was among the 14 officers involved in the raid Saturday night and Sunday morning.
Members of the Stanislaus Drug Enforcement Agency, California Multi-Jurisdictional Methamphetamine Enforcement Team and High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area team worked on the case.
Officers said they watched the Carpenter Road house for several days last week. Surveillance started after community members tipped off authorities to suspicious activity.
"This lab, it appears, has been operating for months," sheriff's Lt. Marvin Harper said. "There's no telling how much of this poison they've been putting out on the street."
Harper said all eight rooms of the home, plus the basement and attic, were being used for cooking meth or storing supplies.
Officers obtained a search warrant for the home Saturday evening. While preparing for the raid about 7 p.m., Harper said, undercover agents saw a man carry garbage bags from the home to a car, then drive off.
When officers pulled that car over, they discovered the 80 pounds of powdered ephedrine. The driver, Jose Aguilar Zaragoza, 36, of Mexico, was arrested on suspicion of manufacturing methamphetamine and possession of a controlled substance for sale.
Back at the house, agents entered through the front door while at least four suspects ran out the back.
"We got about 10 feet into the residence before we had to retreat after being overcome by the fumes," Richards said.
There were meth ingredients cooking, making it hard to breathe, he said. They stayed out of the house until they could put on protective clothing and breathing gear.
Outside, officers chased suspects through tall grass, fields and the countryside with the help of a sheriff's helicopter and a dog.
The dog, Zeke, tracked down and bit the legs of two suspects, Misael Taviera, 26, and Mario Alvanez, 30, both of Mexico.
Their minor wounds were treated at a hospital, then they were booked -- along with suspect Raul Serrato Calles, 21, also of Mexico -- on suspicion of manufacturing methamphetamine, criminal conspiracy and resisting arrest.
Also arrested was Raul Torres, 68, of Mexico, who was found in a trailer near the home. During that arrest, Torres allegedly punched one of the officers in the face, bloodying his nose.
That officer, deputy Mike Richards Jr., is Sgt. Richards' son.
"He's OK. It's not his first bloody nose, and it won't be his last," Sgt. Richards said of his son.
Torres was booked on suspicion of battery on a police officer, resisting arrest, manufacturing methamphetamine, criminal conspiracy and an unrelated Turlock Police Department warrant for stolen property.
All five of the suspects were being held without bail in county jail, and illegal immigrant holds had been placed on them to prevent their release.
At least one suspect got away, authorities said.
While all five of those arrested could face more than 10 years in prison if convicted under federal laws, Harper said the men were not major players in the drug trade.
"These people probably are just the cooks," Harper said.
Illegal immigrants routinely are brought into the country by drug rings to work in meth labs.
"You don't have to be a brain surgeon to make meth," he said.
While this was the largest meth lab found in the county
Richards said it was the seventh lab to be uncovered since Jan. 1.
The Carpenter Road house now is considered contaminated with toxic waste. Officials said state funds will be used to clean up the pollution.
County authorities still are searching for the lab's dumping ground.
"Hundreds and hundreds of pounds of toxic waste" were produced by the lab, Harper estimated.
Additional suspects involved in the lab were being sought, but officials did not provide descriptions during a Monday morning news conference.
Here is what they said was confiscated from the house or the car that left the house:
80 pounds of pure ephedrine powder.
100 gallons of solution containing pseudoephedrine tablets.
300 gallons of alcohol.
96 pounds of red phosphorous.
30 gallons of muriatic acid.
30 pounds of iodine.
3 cases of Red Devil Lye.
Assorted generators, heating devices, cooking pots and flasks.
Empty bottles of pseudo-ephedrine tables.
Two shotguns, a rifle and a .45-caliber Tech 9 semiautomatic gun with a threaded barrel for use with a silencer.
Props to LoW_JacK.
This may be a warning to all you home chemists! What do you think on this bust?
I think the video is a little low quality for it to have been shot by someone from the DEA, after all don't they have a unlimited budget? To help protect the children of course!