ARMORED VEHICLES, HELICOPTER USED IN DRUG BUST

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) -- Federal drug agents in armored vehicles,
with a police helicopter for backup, raided two methamphetamine labs
and a psilocybin mushroom operation, arresting five people.

Details of the arrests early Tuesday were sketchy, but four men and a
woman being held in the Jackson County Jail were expected to face
federal drug charges.

Those arrested were Dennis Allen Smith, 50; Percie Fiske, 40; Timothy
Stanley Barnes, 38; Yolanda Barnes, 40; and Benjamin Lynn Watts, 46.

DEA spokesman Tom O'Brien said neither of the meth labs was operating,
but both were "fully functional, with all the glassware." Chemicals
also were found at both sites.

DEA agent Mike Bansmer said armored vehicles were used because
information gathered prior to the arrests indicated there were assault
rifles and "lots of weapons."

Bansmer said legal and illegal weapons were found during the search,
and federal firearms charges likely will be filed against some or all
of those arrested.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry