DRUG LAB ALLEGED, BOULDER MAN HELD

BOULDER - A Boulder man was arrested Tuesday at Los Angeles
International Airport after local law enforcement officials discovered
an "intricate underground" drug laboratory in a Boulder County house
rented by the man.

Law enforcement officials from the Drug Enforcement Administration and
several local police agencies have investigated Stanley Birch, 46, for
months, according to Jeff Dorschner of the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Those officials waited until Birch was on a flight to Los Angeles on
Tuesday to launch searches of two Boulder homes rented by Birch,
Dorschner said.

In the second home, at 2484 Yarmouth Ave., just outside city limits,
officials found the alleged drug-manufacturing setup.

"It was clear to investigators that at one time Ecstasy was
manufactured there," Dorschner said. "There were precursors to Ecstasy."

A hazardous-materials team was called in to help dismantle the
laboratory equipment, a process that took several hours.

The investigators also found hash oil, a potent derivative of
marijuana, Dorschner said.

According to law enforcement records, Birch sold a half-kilogram of
cocaine to a "confidential source" on Dec. 8.

Dorschner said the operation was set up for more than personal use but
said it wasn't clear whether the lab was part of a large-scale operation.

"It certainly had the potential to be," Dorschner said.

Birch was not in possession of drugs when he was arrested and did not
appear to be fleeing the country, officials said.

If convicted on cocaine distribution charges, Birch could face a
sentence of between five and 40 years in federal prison and fines of
as much as $2 million.