TASK FORCE INTERRUPTS METH MANUFACTURE

Five Delano residents were charged with manufacturing methamphetamine after
a Fresno County task force interrupted a preliminary process in the
laboratory operation, officials said Wednesday.

Officers with the Fresno Methamphetamine Task Force raided a house in the
2000 block of Round Street on Monday, where it found the occupants in the
middle of extracting ephedrine from pseudoephedrine, one of the first steps
in the manufacturing process, Fresno investigator Joe DeMelo said.
Investigators also seized about 1.2 pounds of methamphetamine from the home.

Arrested were Refugio Mariscal, Jr., 20, Ramiro Orozco Talamantez, 21,
Monica Acosta, 18, Noel Regorio Duran, 26, and a 16-year-old male.

The adults pleaded innocent Wednesday in Bakersfield Municipal Court to
charges of manufacturing methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine for
sale and possession of methamphetamine precursors.

A preliminary hearing was scheduled Feb. 9. The adults remain in custody in
lieu of $500,000 bail each.