State to Beef Up Drug Lab Battle in San Diego County

Citing statistics that show San Diego County accounted for 25% of all methamphetamine laboratories seized in the United States in 1986, state Atty. Gen. John Van de Kamp on Tuesday announced the creation of a special drug lab task force to battle methamphetamine manufacturing in the county.

To dramatize the problem posed by the illegal laboratories, Van de Kamp met with reporters on the playground at Anza Elementary School in El Cajon. In September, El Cajon Police raided a house adjacent to the school and found a clandestine lab in the basement and $44 million worth of methamphetamine, including the street drug known as “crystal meth.”

According to the attorney general’s figures, 479 clandestine methamphetamine labs were uncovered in the United States in 1986. Of those, 325 labs, or 67%, were in California, and 120 labs, or 25%, were found in San Diego County.

Beginning this week, Van de Kamp said that he has assigned a special task force of six state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement agents to work exclusively on uncovering clandestine labs in San Diego County.

In addition to the extra agents, Van de Kamp said the state has budgeted money for the creation of a Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement field office in San Diego. State officials hope that the new office will be operational by the fall and will include the six additional agents who will join two who currently work on narcotics investigations from a small San Diego office.