IRVINE : Drug Lab Destroyed After Man’s Arrest

Police arrested an Irvine man Tuesday night and dismantled a drug manufacturing laboratory he was thought to be running in the converted garage at his parents’ home.

Marco A. Gutierrez, 25, was booked into Orange County Jail on suspicion of manufacturing methamphetamines and violating the conditions of his probation after police discovered about four ounces of drug crystals and chemicals and equipment used to make it, Lt. Sam Allevato said.

After stumbling onto the suspected lab on Hermosa during a routine probation check, authorities advised several neighbors in the gated community to evacuate in case the chemicals exploded, Allevato said.

“A lot of these are very volatile and explosive and they can cause a lot of damage,” he said.

Firefighters and state hazardous waste units were called in as state narcotics officers dismantled the laboratory, where Gutierrez had been heating the liquid chemicals used to make the drug crystals when police arrived, Allevato said.

The room, a garage bay that doubled as Gutierrez’s bedroom, was kept tightly sealed with soundproof walls and locks all around, he said. Gutierrez’s parents apparently were unaware of the lab, Allevato said.

“The mother was at the residence and claimed no knowledge of what was going on in her son’s bedroom,” Allevato said. “They even had a remote system to call him when it was time to go to dinner.” A switch inside the house flashed a red light in the garage, he said.

Gutierrez was sentenced to a year in Orange County Jail and three years’ probation last year for dealing drugs, according to court records.