Drug Paraphernalia Seized in Fountain Valley

Customs agents announced Thursday that they had seized an estimated $2 million in drug paraphernalia earlier this week, half from a glass factory in Fountain Valley and the rest from two locations in the San Francisco Bay Area.

No arrests have been made so far, a spokesman said.

The haul included pipes for crack cocaine and marijuana, water pipes known as “bongs,” cocaine vials, and kits for cocaine and freebase, a concentrated form of cocaine.

The seizure, occurring simultaneously Tuesday in Southern and Northern California, was conducted under new federal laws making it a crime to sell drug paraphernalia across state lines.

Agents said they believe the paraphernalia was manufactured in Fountain Valley, then shipped to a San Francisco warehouse for distribution nationwide.

Authorities said that agents with search warrants seized 6 1/2 tons of glassware and unfinished glass at Allied Glass Works, 17336 Mt. Wynne Circle, Fountain Valley.

“Apparently there was some manufacturing of legitimate articles, such as vases and figurines,” a spokesman said. But manufacturing drug paraphernalia seemed to be the main business, he said.

Allied Glass Works has no telephone listing and no sign on its building, which is located in an area of small industries off Slater Avenue on the city’s east side. The building was closed late Thursday with no indication that business was being conducted.

“It appears they were maybe doing this on weekends,” one customs investigator said.

Roger Urbanski, a Customs Service spokesman, said the investigation began three months ago and led, through information from retailers, to the three locations raided Tuesday.

The Northern California seizures took place at a storage facility in Concord and at N.E.A. Enterprises in Walnut Creek. Agents declined to identify the owners.

“Although we view this as a significant victory, this is really only something of a small skirmish in the war on drugs,” Urbanski said.