Pauma Valley
Sheriff’s deputies arrested three suspects Monday after finding a makeshift methamphetamine laboratory in Pauma Valley that contained the makings of $5.6-million worth of drugs.
Responding to reports from neighboring workers of men brandishing guns, deputies arrived at the scene on Quail Drive and found a large, windowless structure where chemicals were cooking in eight 22-liter flasks, according to Sheriff’s Sgt. Bob Plombley of the North County Narcotics Task Force.
The flasks contained two of the three ingredients necessary to create methamphetamine, and the structure had the necessary electrical and plumbing equipment to operate such a lab, Plombley said.
After a short foot pursuit, deputies apprehended three men and confiscated several guns. They arrested Gerrardo Sanchez Daniels, 21; Benito Verdugo, 21; and Guillermo Cuevas Cervantes, 26.
Plombley said the three, each of whom is being held on $150,000 bail, told deputies that they are residents of Mexico, but had no identification.
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