5 Arrested at Suspected Drug Lab
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Los Angeles police Thursday raided a Tujunga house in search of a clandestine laboratory, arresting five people on suspicion of manufacturing drugs and confiscating more than $270,000 worth of methamphetamine.
After obtaining a search warrant for a house in the 10200 block of Wilsey Drive, police said, they arrested Steve V. Schacher, 39, Donald Preston, 28, Christopher McCain, 26, Kerwin Meriweather, 24, and Mary Benny, 29. The suspects are being held at Van Nuys Jail in lieu of $75,000 bail each, police said.
The raid, at about 2 p.m., was part of a two-week surveillance of suspected methamphetamine laboratories conducted by the clandestine laboratory squad of the Police Department’s Major Violators Section. Methamphetamine also is known as “speed.”
Officers said they seized chemical components of methamphetamine, laboratory equipment, a semiautomatic firearm and three pounds of methamphetamine with a street value of $272,520.
Investigators said they believe the laboratory produced as much as 20 pounds of methamphetamine a week.
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