Officials: Meth raid in Ceres uncovers $780,000 operation
CERES -- Stanislaus Drug Enforcement Agency officials arrested two people and are looking for others in connection with an estimated $780,000 crystal meth operation in a residential area.
Authorities arrested Francisco Javier Soto-Cuevas, 22, and Alondra Gutierrez Fernandez, 20, on Monday evening, according to deputy Royjindar Singh with the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department. Both were arrested on suspicion of child endangerment and of felony possession, sale and manufacturing of methamphetamine, Singh said. Both have no-bail immigration holds because they appear to have been in the country illegally, he said.
Agents tipped off to drugs
SDEA agents received a tip last week about a drug lab or drug activity at the home in the 2500 block of Kay Street, Singh said. When two agents visited the house Monday about 3 p.m., a man and woman opened the door. The agents noticed a strong chemical smell, Singh said, which made them suspicious. Fernandez's nephew, an 18-month-old boy, was also at the home. The agents kept everyone inside the home while they waited for a search warrant, Singh said. The warrant was granted about 5 p.m., said SDEA supervisor Sgt. Robert Hunt.
In the garage, agents found appliances and chemicals for manufacturing methamphetamine, Singh said. Stains, spilled chemicals and other evidence led agents to believe methamphetamine had been cooked in the garage in the past.
Just 1 pound of the drug could bring $12,000 to $13,000, according to SDEA agent Kelly Rea of the Modesto Police Department. Each cooking cycle, lasting 24 to 36 hours, would have produced about 10 pounds. And the drug likely would have been "stepped on," or cut with other sub- stances to increase the volume, six times before it was sold on the street, leading to an esti- mated value of $780,000, Rea said.
Child Protective Services took the 18-month-old for a medical check as a precaution. Fernandez had been baby-sitting for the boy's mother, who lives in the Bay Area, Singh said. CPS planned to return the infant to his mother after the health screening, he said.
About 7:30 p.m., more than a dozen SDEA agents worked in the chilly air, fingerprinting, organizing and cataloging items from the garage on a thin plastic sheet. There were three cardboard bins of iodine pellets, likely bought on the black market or stolen, worth $15,000 to $30,000, according to Rea. Other items found included a 22-liter round glass flask for cooking; a white powder called "MSM" used to cut the meth, making it less pure and more plentiful; and numerous cans of acetone, the active ingredient in nail polish remover, which whitens otherwise brown meth crystals.
"It makes it look nice for Christmas," said Hunt. "Otherwise, it looks like dirt."
Bee staff writer Emilie Raguso can be reached at eraguso@modbee.com or 578-2235.
This story was originally published December 18, 2007 at 3:16 AM with the headline "Officials: Meth raid in Ceres uncovers $780,000 operation."