The State : Drug Lab Found; 9 Held

An armored truck was used by Sacramento County sheriff’s deputies to smash the booby-trapped front door of a Wilton area farmhouse, where deputies said they found a drug laboratory, an armory of automatic weapons and an unidentified decomposed corpse. Pit bulldogs reportedly guarded the house, and bulletproof windows deflected tear gas canisters lobbed by the officers. An electrified fence was rammed by patrol cars. Several people--including women and teen-agers--emerged, but two men refused to exit until the front door was smashed, setting off a fiery explosion and demolition of ammunition. Nine people were arrested. A state narcotics agent said the laboratory was capable of producing $500,000 worth of “speed” or methamphetamines a day. The body was found in an automobile baggage carrier amid debris in the barn.