Police Arrest Nine in Raid on Drug Lab

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

John Brooks, 45, an airplane mechanic who lived in the hangar, was arrested with four other men and a 17-year-old boy early Saturday.

Authorities were working to identify the men arrested with Brooks at the hangar, described as Mexican nationals who were not carrying identification.

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. Bail for each was set at $500,000, except for the teenager, who was held without bail at a juvenile hall.

A dozen guns, a hand grenade and nearly a pound of powdered methamphetamine and 150 gallons of methamphetamine oil, were seized in the raid, officials said.

If precisely cooked, the methamphetamine oil could be worth $5 million, authorities said.

The oil is made by mixing several chemicals, then cooked and reduced into a rock form.

Labs like the one discovered Saturday have become increasingly popular in Ventura County 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.

LAPD detectives were tipped early Friday that methamphetamine was being cooked at a house in Woodland Hills. Officers watched as people inside appeared to be making drugs, said LAPD narcotics Det. Frank Lyga.

Officers then followed a car to the hangar. After obtaining a search warrant, detectives raided the facility.

“This place was capable of making 200 pounds a week,” LAPD Officer Don Cox said.