Pubdate: Mon, 19 Jun 2000 Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA) Copyright: 2000 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. Contact: PO Box 120191, San Diego, CA, 92112-0191 Fax: (619) 293-1440 Website: http://www.uniontrib.com/ Forum: http://www.uniontrib.com/cgi-bin/WebX Author: Scott Farwell, The Press-Enterprise 400 POUNDS OF METH SEIZED IN RIVERSIDE COUNTY BUST; 5 HELD GOOD HOPE -- Deputies wearing gas masks and space suit-like protective gear seized nearly 400 pounds of powder, paste and liquid methamphetamine Saturday in what they called the largest drug-lab bust this year in Riverside County. The drugs -- which have an estimated street value of nearly $17 million -- were "cooked" and processed in several mobile homes on about 10 acres in rural Riverside County, about three miles west of Perris. "This is what we call a super lab," said Riverside County Sheriff's Sgt. Steve Rinks, who with about 25 other officers from the Special Investigations Bureau, Drug Enforcement Agency and Western Riverside County Narcotics Task Force raided the homes. Five people were arrested. "This is a complex operation producing high quantities of meth for distribution back East," Rinks said. "This is not for someone's personal use. It's a large, fairly sophisticated lab." Authorities say methamphetamine from the West Coast has spread across the country in recent years. In many cities, police say as much as 80 percent of the speed in their areas is manufactured in places like the Inland Empire. Last month, deputies raided a suspected drug lab in an exclusive Temecula neighborhood flanked by a golf course. Deputies seized more than $150,000 in cash and enough chemicals and equipment to manufacture 100 pounds of meth. "We find meth labs in motels, in high-priced homes, in million-dollar ranches and dumpy ranches like this," Rinks said. "They could be all over, and they are all over, unfortunately." The lab discovered Saturday apparently was run by Mexican drug traffickers, Rinks said, and represents the type of high-volume operation that feeds the pipeline to the rest of the country. Gases released during the production of methamphetamine are highly corrosive and can be explosive, deputies said. The plywood walls inside the shed used to cook the drugs were so deteriorated in places they crumbled when touched. Rinks said the contamination was so severe authorities destroyed several sheds and dug up tons of earth from two pits where chemical byproducts had been dumped for years. "This is one of the worst cases of contamination I've ever seen," said Rinks, who estimated the clean-up costs at $60,000. "If this was in a residential area somewhere we'd be evacuating a whole city block." Concern for children living on the property, as well as the lingering environmental hazard, persuaded authorities to destroy the metal and wood sheds. As Riverside County Hazardous Materials, Environmental Health and fire crews stood by, toddlers ran back and forth on the front porch of one of the mobile homes. A yard flanked by chicken coops was scattered with small cars, push toys and a collection of colorful plastic dishes. About a rock's throw away, deputies said they found a decrepit drug lab. "The smell in that one was so strong when we cracked the door we just backed off and let it air out a little bit," said Rinks, motioning to a white mobile home trimmed in mint green set among eucalyptus trees. Deputies arrested the owner of the property, Margarito Martinez-Garcia, 55, of Good Hope; Jose Hernandez, 48, of Peula, Mexico; Jesus Cabera, 31, of Mexico; and Fernando Orozco, 24, of Southgate for suspicion of manufacturing methamphetamine, possession for sales and environmental charges. Daniel Martinez, 26, of Los Angeles also was arrested in connection with possession of a one-pound brick of marijuana and a small-caliber handgun, Rinks said. The rural area outside Perris is an ideal setting for methamphetamine labs, deputies said, because of the seclusion and isolation. However, Rinks said there is no real profile for a drug lab. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D