10 Narcotics Lab Suspects Arrested in Raids at 4 Homes

Raids at four homes in Santa Ana and Anaheim resulted in the arrest of 10 people suspected of making methamphetamine, police said Wednesday.

Following a weeklong investigation, Martin Reyes, 22, and Minerva Alvarado Alvarez, 23, were arrested late Tuesday at their home in the 10000 block of Perdido Street in Anaheim, where police confiscated flasks, heating material and chemicals used to process the drug, Sgt. Ronald Lovejoy said.

Officials said the suspects were in the process of setting up a makeshift methamphetamine lab at the three-bedroom house.

“They had even cut a hole in the roof of the garage to vent the poisonous fumes,” Lovejoy said. “It was three days from being operational.”

Investigators estimated that the lab would have been capable of producing hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine.

“This is a fairly large lab in such an urban area,” Lovejoy said. “Large labs like this are usually found in rural areas, where people are not going to notice the smell and activity.”

Officials began to stake out the house when neighbors began to complain about frequent visitors there.

“People were coming and going and carrying boxes into the house,” Lovejoy said. “This particular house has had a history of drug activity.”

The raid led sheriff’s deputies and police to three other sites in Anaheim and Santa Ana.

Laura Chavez, 29, and Manuel Garcilazo Campos, 26, both of Anaheim, were arrested in the 900 block of Sherrill Street. Antony Santiago Canela, 21, Edgar Jacobo, 21, Jose Cruz Ramirez Delgado, 23, Pedro Magana Ayala, 25, Julio Carlos Enrique, 18, and Martin Bucio Delgado, 21, were arrested in two Santa Ana homes. In the two Santa Ana homes, authorities found chemicals and equipment used in the production of methamphetamine, Lovejoy said.