Big Meth Ring Broken, Police Say; 3 Arrested

Paula’s Kitchen is out of business.

Authorities said Friday they have closed down one of the largest methamphetamine operations in the Antelope Valley, seizing drugs and drug-making chemicals with a street value of $30 million and arresting three people.

The yearlong investigation, named “Operation Paula’s Kitchen” after one of the alleged leaders of the enterprise, uncovered what authorities said was a “one-stop shopping center” for the illegal drug.

“This place was like opening up a stinking Wal-Mart for methamphetamine,” said Jerry Hunter, special agent of the California Department of Justice, Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement. “Usually you have one crook out there who supplies the chemicals, one crook who supplies the apparatus. But this organization was one-stop shopping.”

Friday morning, authorities arrested Paula Martinez, 44, and Merlin Guy, 42, both of Lake Los Angeles, and Alfredo Velasquez, 36, of Palmdale. They were booked on suspicion of manufacturing and conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine. More arrests are expected, authorities said.

Investigators said that within the past six months they seized 28 pounds of methamphetamine and 185 pounds of chemicals, with a street value of more than $30 million.

Martinez owns several properties in the Antelope Valley where the meth was manufactured and the waste chemicals dumped onto the ground, authorities said. Later, Martinez allegedly rented out the properties to tenants who were unaware toxic chemicals had been dumped into their backyards, authorities said.

At one such home in Lake Los Angeles--a community in the far northeast corner of Los Angeles County--authorities spent part of Friday digging up Freon cans, hoses, bedsheets and other meth-making paraphernalia that had been buried in the backyard.

Ten meth laboratories have been connected to this organization, but Martinez may have used as many as 30 locations for the drug operation, including several in Arleta, authorities said.

A total of 10 law enforcement agencies joined in the task force.

Among the participants, authorities said, was Gregory Fullam, a civilian pilot working for the Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement who died when his light plane crashed Tuesday morning in the Antelope Valley.

“He was part of the communications, surveillance and transportation for this investigation,” said Shirley Lessiak, a special agent with the Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement. The cause of the crash is still under investigation.

Methamphetamine production and use is spreading across the United States, overtaking cocaine in many areas as the drug of choice. It costs roughly $2,500 to manufacture one pound of the drug, which traffickers can sell wholesale for about $6,000. In cut form, the drug eventually can bring in as much as $15,000 a pound, authorities say.

Last year, authorities discovered more than 2,000 meth labs in California.