Hash oil lab, heroin seized in separate Modesto investigations

The Modesto Narcotics Enforcement Team and the Street Gang Unit worked two separate drug cases Wednesday, yielding several ounces of heroin and the closure of a hash oil lab.

The first investigation took place at about 12:43 p.m. when officers responded to a call of a suspicious person looking over a fence and then entering the backyard of a residence in the 2500 block of Snyder Avenue, said Modesto Police Department spokeswoman Heather Graves.

Two subjects were found in a backyard shed where evidence of a hash oil lab was located. Investigators with the Modesto Narcotics Enforcement Team were called to the home to process the scene.

Zakk Smith, 23, was arrested on suspicion of manufacturing a controlled substance. Investigators will seek additional charges of manufacturing a controlled substance within 1000 feet of a school through the District Attorney’s Office, Graves said.

Later that afternoon at about 3:40 p.m. MNET officers, along with officers from the Street Gang Unit, conducted a traffic stop in the 1300 block of North Carpenter Road.

A traffic stop in front of a motel on the 1300 block of North Carpenter Road led to the arrest of a Modesto man Wednesday afternoon on drug and weapons charges.

Officers with the Modesto Police Department Street Gang Unit conducted the stop about 3:40 p.m., said Lt. Brandon Gillespie. A passenger in the vehicle, Matthew Brady McDonough, 30, was wanted on a felony warrant for drugs, Gillespie said. A probation search of the vehicle uncovered a loaded handgun, one ounce of crystal methamphetamine, two ounces of heroin and more than 30 oxycodone pills, along with scales and packaging materials.

A search of McDonough’s motel room turned up another handgun, seven ounces of heroin and more scales and packaging, Gillespie said.

McDonough was booked into the Stanislaus County Jail on charges including possession of narcotics for sale and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He remained in custody Thursday morning.

This story was originally published August 13, 2015 at 8:35 AM with the headline "Hash oil lab, heroin seized in separate Modesto investigations."