4 Arrested in Seizure of Methamphetamine Lab

GARDEN GROVE —  Four people have been arrested in a drug raid that seized more than $600,000 worth of methamphetamine and dismantled a laboratory capable of making 30 pounds of the powerful stimulant a week, authorities reported Thursday.

Lt. Chuck Gibbs, a police spokesman, said Arizona detectives and the Orange County Lab Enforcement Team broke up the methamphetamine operation Wednesday night at 12102 Sapphire St., a modest stucco home in a middle-class neighborhood.

“It is a pretty good seizure, and we put a very productive lab out of operation,” Gibbs said. “This is the first one we have had of any size in Garden Grove in a few years.”

Arrested on charges of manufacturing controlled substances were Timothy Black, 31, of Ontario; and Joseph Caso, 38, Mitzi Zwierz, 21, and Jay C. Flores, 30, all of Garden Grove. All are being held in Orange County Jail.

At the time of the raid, Flores had been released on bail pending his appeal of a drug conviction in Tulare County, according to the state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement office in Fresno.

Laurie Woods, special agent in charge, said Flores was one of 10 people arrested in a June, 1989, raid of a methamphetamine operation in Goshen, Calif. Case records show that Flores allegedly delivered chemicals to the lab and was a distributor of methampethamine in Southern California.

“It looks like we are going to take all his toys and send him away big time,” Gibbs said.

About 20 officers of the lab enforcement team, which is made up of state, local and federal narcotics agents, raided the house about 7 p.m. after almost two months of investigation. They were joined by police from Apache, Ariz., who also uncovered parts of the operation.

The team confiscated about 40 liters of finished methamphetamine, 75 gallons of ingredients, chemical glassware and six gallons of methamphetamine oil--enough to make about 48 pounds of “speed” or “crank.”

Gibbs estimated that the methamphetamine and the near-finished product would have been worth between $600,000 and $650,000 wholesale. Also seized were several firearms, three high-performance cars, stereo equipment and about $1,000 in cash.

Gibbs said the lab was producing at least a pound of methamphetamine a day, which is worth about $12,000 wholesale. But Special Agent Supervisor Henry Costales, a state narcotics agent who participated in the raid, said the lab was capable of making about 30 pounds a week if operated full time.

Costales said few methamphetamine labs of this size have been seized in Orange County. Operators usually prefer more remote settings that can be found in rural counties such as Riverside and San Bernardino, he said.