3 IN CUSTODY IN DRUG LAB INVESTIGATION

Authorities Say They Were Tipped Off By A Woman Trying To Use A Fake Social
Security Card

FORT WORTH - Three people were in custody Thursday night and the Fort Worth
Fire Department bomb squad was carefully pulling a building apart after
authorities discovered what they believe was a drug lab and computer
equipment to make counterfeit Social Security cards.

At 11 p.m., the bomb squad was rigging a winch to pull out a wall in a
building in the 3800 block of Fossil Drive, said Lt. Kent Worley, a Fire
Department spokesman. Then a robot would be used to test what Worley called
"suspicious" devices.

State troopers found chemicals to make methamphetamine and counterfeiting
equipment in a space hidden behind a bookcase in a bathroom, Worley said.

Troopers were taken to the building - a warehouse-type commercial rental
facility - by a woman who tried to use a fake Social Security card to get a
driver's license at the Department of Public Safety's office in Lake Worth,
Department of Public Safety Sgt. Michael Scullin said.

When a trooper questioned the woman, she tried to run from the building but
was caught, Scullin said.

Her record was checked, and troopers found that she was wanted on a warrant
issued in Hurst, he said.

"She was interviewed by the trooper and told him where she lived and where
she made the document," Scullin said. "She 'fessed up."

Troopers went to the address and surprised two people inside.

Inside the building in a bathroom, troopers found a three-shelf bookcase,
which opened to reveal a secret room, Worley said.

"That's where they found chemicals and five suspicious devices," he said.

The devices included a toolbox, briefcases and a propane tank with bells
and electrical wiring attached. "They don't look right," Worley said.

The building contained a living space with running water, he said.

Meanwhile in Lake Worth, the car that the woman drove to the driver's
license office was being inspected for a possible booby-trap. Officers were
waiting there last night for the bomb squad and a bomb-sniffing dog from
the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.