Police Raid Drug Lab at Airport in Santa Paula

Police arrested nine people in two counties Saturday after raiding a sophisticated drug lab in a Santa Paula Airport hangar that contained two dozen large barrels of high-grade methamphetamine oil.

John Brooks, 45, a popular airplane mechanic who lived in the hangar, was arrested along with four other men and a 17-year-old boy. Authorities had not identified the men arrested with Brooks.

They are all from Mexico and were not carrying identification, authorities said.

Officers also arrested Andy Batey, 35, at his home in Santa Paula and two unidentified people at a house in Woodland Hills.

The suspects were held in Los Angeles on suspicion of manufacturing methamphetamine. Each had bail set at $500,000, except the teenager, who was held without bail at a juvenile hall.

A dozen weapons, including a Chinese-made assault rifle and a hand grenade, and nearly a pound of powdered methamphetamine and 150 gallons of methamphetamine oil, were seized, officials said.

The methamphetamine oil could be worth up to $5 million, authorities said.

The oil, which is made by mixing several chemicals, is cooked until it reduces to crystal form.

Ventura County is becoming increasingly popular for drug labs because of the availability of remote locations where the stench of the cooking process can go undetected, detectives said.

“This case is indicative of more and more labs moving up here,” said Oxnard Police Sgt. Steve Blanchard, a member of a multi-agency Ventura County narcotics task force that took part in the raid. “This is one of the bigger seizures in recent county history.”

Narcotics detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department and several Ventura County police agencies participated in the 1 a.m. raid at the hangar in the 300 block of Santa Maria Street.

The arrests came less than 24 hours after LAPD detectives learned of the lab.

Detectives received a tip Friday that methamphetamine was being cooked at a house in the 5400 block of Fallbrook Avenue in Woodland Hills. Officers conducting surveillance watched as people inside appeared to be making drugs, said LAPD narcotics Det. Frank Lyga.

Officers then followed a car from the house to the hangar at the end of a runway at Santa Paula Airport. After obtaining a search warrant, detectives raided the facility.

The Ventura County sheriff’s bomb squad removed the grenade from the hangar, which also contained an intricate ventilation system, police said.

Detectives seized the two dozen drums of methamphetamine oil and glassware, burners and red phosphorous for cooking.

Authorities believe the Woodland Hills home was being used as an extraction lab, where a first round of cooking was done. The refined chemical was then transported to the Santa Paula hangar for a final round of cooking, said Lyga.

“This place was capable of making 200 pounds a week. That’s substantial cooking,” said LAPD Officer Don Cox.

People working in nearby hangars were stunned by Brooks’ arrest.

“It was quite a shock to everyone,” said Rowena Mason, president of the Santa Paula Airport Assn. “No one had any idea that kind of activity was going on.”

Craig Fields, who owns an airplane parts machine shop across from Brooks’ hangar, said he has known Brooks for more than 11 years. Brooks was well-known around the small airport as an outstanding airline mechanic, although in recent months he had fewer customers, Fields said.

“I’m blown away. He’s the most talented airplane mechanic that I know. He can fix a vacuum cleaner, an RV, anything,” Fields said. “This is a talented individual. I can’t imagine why he would get involved in this.”

In addition to the drug oil and lab equipment, police took away a 30-foot powerboat parked in front of the hangar.

The single-story hangar, which also contained several trophies, bicycles and boxes, is part of a small private business park.

Blanchard, with the Oxnard police, said Brooks and Batey had been under investigation by Ventura County sheriff’s deputies who were looking into methamphetamine sales in the county.

Santa Paula Police Chief Bob Gonzales praised the LAPD’s work but said he was stunned and troubled that drugs were being manufactured in his small city.

“You don’t want that in your backyard,” Gonzales said.