56TH METH LAB IN YEAR BUSTED NEAR MERCED

While officials spoke in Fresno Tuesday about the Valley's illegal
methamphetamine trade, law enforcement drilled the point home by taking
down another "super lab" at a Merced County home.

A woman was arrested on drug and gun charges, and four of her children were
placed with Children's Protective Service, said Sgt. Rick Hill, spokesman
for the Fresno Methamphetamine Task Force.

Three men are being sought. About 90% of the nation's methamphetamine is
being produced in the Central Valley, and Tuesday's lab was the 56th busted
by the Fresno Methamphetamine Task Force since it was formed Jan. 10, 2000.
The task force is responsible for Fresno, Madera and Merced counties.

"We've been hitting about one lab a week," Hill said.

The first Central Valley Methamphetamine Summit brought together
politicians, law enforcement officials and others to figure out ways to
stop meth production.

The war is not just affecting law enforcement, Hill said, but also children
and those people who work in social services and in the medical field.

A super lab can cook 10 pounds of meth or more with a street value of as
much as $8,000 a pound. The cost to cook 10 pounds is only a few hundred
dollars, Hill said.

It was by coincidence the Merced County lab was discovered.

A marshal had gone to a trailer on Fields Avenue to serve an eviction
notice about 9 a.m. There, the marshal had trouble communicating with the
Spanish-speaking woman, who was caring for three young children while
another child was at school.

Suddenly, three men inside a nearby workshop bolted for the fields. The
marshal walked to the workshop, discovered the illegal lab and called for
backup help.

Task force members with warrants in hand found equipment and enough
chemicals "to cook 30 pounds of methamphetamines," Hill said.

The three men were in the process of extracting pseudoephedrine from pills
- -- the first stage in making methamphetamine, Hill said.

In the trailer, authorities seized several ounces of methamphetamine and
marijuana and two firearms. Outside, task force members found black plastic
bags filled with contaminated waste, Hill said.

The woman, not identified, was booked into the Merced County Jail on
charges of child endangerment, manufacturing methamphetamine, possession of
methamphetamine for sale and possession of guns near an illegal lab, Hill said.

Before CPS workers took custody, the children inside the trailer were
stripped of their clothing and given protective suits to wear, Hill said.

CPS workers "were concerned about being contaminated," said Hill, who
requested that the children be seen by a doctor.

A fourth child was turned over to CPS when she returned home from school.

Evidence revealed the drug lab had been in operation for at least six
months, Hill said.