Meth lab bust nets two suspects

Deepa Bharath

COSTA MESA -- For the third time this year, a special county task

force busted a methamphetamine lab in Costa Mesa, officials said.

On Wednesday afternoon the officers raided a home in the 1700 block of

Pomona Avenue where they found a glass bowl with several ounces liquid

methamphetamine, said Sgt. Mark Bailey of the Orange County Sheriff’s

Department.

“The bowl had chemicals like methanol and acetone,” he said. “Those

are essentially solvents used to extract the crystallized methamphetamine

from the liquid.”

Officers arrested 33-year-old Ryan Robert Martin, who they said owned

the home. Officers also arrested Larry Alan White, 38, of Moreno Valley,

who called himself Martin’s friend. Bailey said White had three

outstanding warrants.

Both men were being held on suspicion of manufacturing a controlled

substance.

Bailey said although only a small amount was seized, manufacturers of

the popular drug store their ingredients elsewhere. They transport them

in small quantities when they cook the drug.

Bailey said methamphetamine labs are on the decrease in Orange County.

Last year, the team busted 68 labs. This year their total is up to 23,

three of those in Costa Mesa.

“We’re trying to push them out of the county,” he said. “They’re

moving to Los Angeles and Riverside now.”

Martin is being held in Orange County Jail with bail set at $500,000.

If convicted he faces up to seven years in state prison. White is also

being held in Orange County Jail.