3 Arrested in Drug-Lab Raid in Simi Valley

Simi Valley police raided an illegal methamphetamine laboratory in Simi Valley Thursday, seizing equipment capable of producing $30,000 worth of “speed” a day, a police spokesman said.

Lt. Lester Terborch said police and deputies from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department made three arrests after they broke into a run-down house at 6534 Katherine Road at about 1 a.m. Thursday. The raid followed complaints from neighbors of a strong smell of ether.

Inside, they found equipment used to heat and distill methamphetamine, along with a shotgun, a crossbow and a semiautomatic rifle, Terborch said. None of the finished drug was recovered, he said.

Jimmie Dale Vincent, 36, described as a transient, and Sandra Grand, 23, Mission Hills, were arrested inside the house on suspicion of manufacturing illegal drugs and suspicion of possession of chemicals with intent to manufacture illegal drugs, Terborch said. A third suspect, Paul Robert Schaefer, 43, Garden Grove, was arrested outside the house on suspicion of conspiracy to manufacture illegal drugs and suspicion of possession of illegal weapons, he said.

Terborch said Schaefer was carrying a hunting knife and a set of brass knuckles at the time of his arrest.

Police suspect that the illegal drug factory had been in operation for two weeks, Terborch said.

The suspects were jailed at the Sheriff’s Department’s East Valley substation in lieu of $100,000 bail, Terborch said.