$1.2 Million in Drugs Seized at Hotel

Twenty-six pounds of crystal methamphetamine with an estimated street value of almost $1.2 million was seized and two people were arrested early Sunday at a San Diego hotel.

Police spokesman Bill Robinson said officers responding to a 3:30 a.m. call from the Rancho Bernardo Inn found the drug and $42,000 in cash in Room 731, where they arrested the suspects.

Mark E. Winne, 27, of Vista and Janine Brannick, 24, of Oceanside, who had checked into the hotel earlier in the morning, were arrested. Winne was being held Sunday at the County Jail downtown, and Brannick was taken to County Jail at Las Colinas in Santee.

Robinson said officers drove to the hotel after an anonymous caller reported that a woman was being held against her will by a man with a gun. When they arrived at the inn, officers telephoned the room and asked Brannick to come out.

They then entered the room and, while talking with Winne, smelled ether, which is used to make crystal methamphetamine. A search turned up the drug and cash in a duffel bag, Robinson said.