BIG METH RING BROKEN, POLICE SAY; 3 ARRESTED

LANCASTER--Paula's Kitchen is out of business.

Authorities said Friday they have closed down one of the largest
methamphetamine operations in the Antelope Valley, seizing drugs and
drug-making chemicals with a street value of $30 million and arresting
three people.

The yearlong investigation, named "Operation Paula's Kitchen" after
one of the alleged leaders of the enterprise, uncovered what
authorities said was a "one-stop shopping center" for the illegal drug.

"This place was like opening up a stinking Wal-Mart for
methamphetamine," said Jerry Hunter, special agent of the California
Department of Justice, Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement. "Usually you
have one crook out there who supplies the chemicals, one crook who
supplies the apparatus. But this organization was one-stop shopping."

Friday morning, authorities arrested Paula Martinez, 44, and Merlin
Guy, 42, both of Lake Los Angeles, and Alfredo Velasquez, 36, of
Palmdale. They were booked on suspicion of manufacturing and
conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine. More arrests are expected,
authorities said.

Investigators said that within the past six months they seized 28
pounds of methamphetamine and 185 pounds of chemicals, with a street
value of more than $30 million.

Martinez owns several properties in the Antelope Valley where the meth
was manufactured and the waste chemicals dumped onto the ground,
authorities said. Later, Martinez allegedly rented out the properties
to tenants who were unaware toxic chemicals had been dumped into their
backyards, authorities said.

At one such home in Lake Los Angeles--a community in the far northeast
corner of Los Angeles County--authorities spent part of Friday digging
up Freon cans, hoses, bedsheets and other meth-making paraphernalia
that had been buried in the backyard.

Ten meth laboratories have been connected to this organization, but
Martinez may have used as many as 30 locations for the drug operation,
including several in Arleta, authorities said.

A total of 10 law enforcement agencies joined in the task
force.

Among the participants, authorities said, was Gregory Fullam, a
civilian pilot working for the Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement who
died when his light plane crashed Tuesday morning in the Antelope Valley.

"He was part of the communications, surveillance and transportation
for this investigation," said Shirley Lessiak, a special agent with
the Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement. The cause of the crash is still
under investigation.

Methamphetamine production and use is spreading across the United
States, overtaking cocaine in many areas as the drug of choice. It
costs roughly $2,500 to manufacture one pound of the drug, which
traffickers can sell wholesale for about $6,000. In cut form, the drug
eventually can bring in as much as $15,000 a pound, authorities say.

Last year, authorities discovered more than 2,000 meth labs in
California.