Tip Leads Deputies to Drug Lab Arrests

An anonymous tip helped lead Ventura County Sheriff’s Department narcotics investigators to a methamphetamine lab outside of Ojai that had the capacity of producing more than 25 pounds of the illicit drug, officials said Monday.

At about 4:30 p.m Sunday, deputies raided the lab at a residence at 13675 Ojai-Santa Paula Road, where they found the drug-making chemicals and four suspects.

All four were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, said Capt. Dennis Carpenter, who heads the Sheriff’s Department’s narcotics unit.

The deputies were helped by agents from the state Department of Justice Bureau of Narcotics Lab, who used respirators to enter the residence and clean up the chemicals, which can be highly explosive, Carpenter said.

Narcotics investigators estimate there were enough chemicals to produce 25 pounds of the drug, which would have an estimated street value of $250,000.

The deputies also found about $30,000 in cash hidden in one of the bedrooms, Carpenter said.

Arrested in the raid were 22-year-old Reynaldo Lozano Diaz of San Jose, 23-year-old Hector Garcia Gutierrez of Santa Ana, 26-year-old Domingo Santos Zuniga of Garden Grove, and 39-year-old Jesus Amezcua Garcia, whose hometown is unknown.

All the suspects were booked into the Ventura County Jail on suspicion of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine.

Bail is set at $500,000 for each of the suspects, Carpenter said.