3 Arrested in Raid on Large Lancaster Drug Lab

Paula’s Kitchen in Lancaster is out of business.

Authorities said Friday that 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 an 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.”

On 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 they seized 28 pounds of methamphetamine and 185 pounds of chemical solution, with a street value of more than $30 million.

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

Ten methamphetamine laboratories have been connected to this organization, but Martinez may have used 30 locations, authorities said.

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