Drug Ring Indictment Names 15 Area Residents : Meth labs: They are charged in shipment of chemicals from East Coast to be used in drug making.

Sixteen people, 15 of them from the San Diego area, have been charged with conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine and were found to be in unlawful possession of ephedrine, the main ingredient used in making the drug, according to a 40-count indictment unsealed Monday in San Diego.

The investigation leading to the indictment was part of a larger probe by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents in New Jersey who were tracking the flow of 12,000 pounds of ephedrine into San Diego County.

The DEA intercepted three shipments of ephedrine in New Jersey--a total of 2,600 pounds, or enough to make 200 pounds of methamphetamine, with a street value of $14 million--between April 2 and May 14, 1990, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

Agents say they subsequently found another 600 pounds of the chemical with some of those who were charged. Agents monitored telephone conversations for more than a year, recording a variety of proposed drug buys, the indictment says, before the arrests were made Saturday.

Of the 15 defendants from the San Diego area, seven are from Chula Vista. The 16th is from New Jersey.

Three people had previously been indicted in New Jersey on charges of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine. Thirteen others were indicted under the same charge in federal court in San Diego. All 16 were indicted on charges of unlawful possession of ephedrine and of unlawful use of a telephone to buy and sell drugs.

After an arraignment hearing Monday, eight of the defendants were being held in federal prison in lieu of bail ranging from $250,000 to $500,000. Two others had their hearings continued. Two more are already in prison and have yet to have hearings scheduled. Four are fugitives.

“Operation Speedtrap,” as the investigation was called, took 15 months and included efforts of the U.S. attorney’s office, the DEA, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement and the San Diego County district attorney’s office.

Those indicted are Dolores Hobica-Glos, Daniel Scott Glos, Ricardo Mendoza Aglipay, James Donald Gillespie, Jose Meranda Paniagua, Enrique Estrada-Rodriquez, David Gene Wiltgen, Adan Mares-Borbon, John Leslie Harris, Ignacio Escatel Castenada, Penalupe Agnes Maschka, Edward Clifton Smith, Richard Paul Bell, Bruce Lyn Cook, Howard Bruce Cothren and Pierre Coleman.

Federal and state officials said Monday that the indictments will go far in keeping methamphetamine labs from proliferating in the San Diego area, which has long been known as the capital for the drug’s manufacture.

“We were seizing about 15 meth labs a month and now we’re down to about three to five a month,” said Philip J. Donohue Jr., special agent in charge of the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement. Those operating such labs are “moving to other places now, like San Bernardino and Riverside counties.”

Although they called the interception of 2,600 pounds of ephedrine and the indictment of 16 people “significant,” state and federal officials were not readily able to rank the operation relative to other such seizures and arrests.

It is not as successful as the 1988-89 “Operation Crankhouse,” in which more than 100 people were indicted, 29 illegal methamphetamine labs closed and more than 100 weapons confiscated in raids in San Diego and Orange counties.

During that operation, law enforcement officials infiltrated a Kearny Mesa chemical company called Triple Neck Scientific and hid audio-video cameras that recorded transactions and conversations.

DEA spokesman Ron D’Ulisse said the number of labs seized by the DEA dropped to 79 last fiscal year, from 114 the year before and 134 two years ago. Beyond that, he said, the number of methamphetamine overdose cases in San Diego area hospitals dropped to 729 last year, from 1,000 the year before. Even with the drop, however, 729 was tops among 50 U.S. cities that are surveyed for overdose statistics.

“We’re not out of the woods yet,” D’Ulisse said. “The DEA is not saying we are, by any means.”

Donohue said he has not figured out why San Diego is home to such a large amount of methamphetamine activity.

“There’s no real explanation for it,” he said. “The San Diego area is a desirable place to live. It has rural areas. It’s a place to hide. Your cookers are just like any other people. They like nice weather, too.”