Thursday, Jul. 24, 2008

3 arrested after drug operation discovered

Meth lab, pot garden and 11,000 ephedrine pills found in Atwater house

ATWATER -- Authorities arrested three men on federal drug charges Tuesday morning after drug enforcement agents found a methamphetamine manufacturing lab and a marijuana growing operation inside a home.

The drug enforcement agents said the lab was capable of producing about $240,000 worth of meth per cook. The agents found 27 marijuana plants and equipment used to grow them in one of the bedrooms, according to a news release.

Arrested at the home were Martin Talavera, 25, of Ceres; Ruben Miranda, 33, of Atwater; and Lorenzo Morfin, 35, of Atwater on suspicion of conspiracy to commit a crime and manufacturing meth.

Agents from the Stanislaus Drug Enforcement Agency, the California Multi-Jurisdictional Methamphetamine Enforcement Team and the federal High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas team served a search warrant at the home in the 1700 block of Chalet Court, west of North Buhach Road and just south of East Juniper Avenue in Atwater.

Along with the marijuana, the growing equipment and the meth lab equipment, the agents seized more than 11,000 ephedrine pills inside the home.

"This would have yielded about four pounds of pure methamphetamine," SDEA agent Kelly Rea said in the news release.

Ephedrine and pseudoephedrine are the main pharmaceutical ingredients found in over-the-counter allergy and cold medicines such as Sudafed. The ingredients also are the precursor chemicals needed to produce methamphetamine.

Tough to obtain pharmaceuticals

State laws regulate the sale and distribution of these drugs, so criminals have found it increasingly difficult to obtain ephedrine and pseudoephedrine in the amounts needed to produce large quantities of methamphetamine, according to drug enforcement agents.

A method called "smurfing" has become the primary tactic for meth manufacturers to circumvent those laws and obtain ephedrine or pseudoephedrine in large enough quantities.

State laws allow customers to purchase only a few boxes of medicine containing ephedrine and pseudoephedrine at one time.

"Smurfing" is when people go from store to store buying a few boxes of medicine at a time. The agents said those pills are then used to make meth.

"It's a felony to purchase pills to sell to someone who is manufacturing methamphetamine," Rea said. "We are trying to get the people supplying the cooks with the pills to slow down the methamphetamine problem in Stanislaus County."

Rea said the public can help law enforcement stop smurfing.

"If you see someone going from store to store buying ephedrine, you know it's not because they have a bad cold," Rea said.

Authorities ask anyone with information about people collecting ephedrine or pseudoephedrine pills to call CrimeStoppers. Callers to CrimeStoppers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward.

Bee staff writer Rosalio Ahumada can be reached at rahumada@modbee.com or 578-2394.