NEWPORT BEACH : Officer Credited With Drug Find

A Newport Beach motorcycle officer on a routine traffic stop was credited Tuesday with the discovery of materials that police said can be used to make “ice,” a crystalline methamphetamine that is gaining in popularity.

Officer Ron Vallercamp noticed popcorn-sized pieces of plastic packing material blowing from the back of a pickup truck at 3:15 p.m. Monday as it was headed west in the 1300 block of Bayside Drive, Police Sgt. Bob Oakley said.

The officer stopped the driver to warn him and a passenger to seal their boxes, Oakley said. But the driver and passenger were so nervous that the officer became suspicious.

In the truck bed, Oakley said, the officer saw boxes containing a large bottle of acetone, a bottle of alcohol and lab equipment. A sergeant who came to the scene identified the materials as “having all the makings of a meth lab,” Oakley said.

Kenneth Raymond Lansden, 28, of Fountain Valley and his passenger, Von Elissa Reigel, 44, of Huntington Beach were booked on suspicion of manufacturing a controlled substance. Lansden was held without bail after police learned that he had outstanding warrants, including one for possession of marijuana for sale, Oakley said.