4 JAILED ON DRUG CHARGES

Four East Palo Alto men are in jail and $190,000 worth of methamphetamine
is off the street after a drug trafficking bust by the San Mateo County
Narcotics Task 46orce on Wednesday.

The four men are charged with transporting and selling methamphetamine, one
of the nation's most common street drugs. Police said they believe the men
were involved in a major trafficking operation in San Mateo County.

Methamphetamine, commonly known as meth or ``speed,'' is a potent mix of
over-the-counter cold medicines such as ephedrine and poisonous additives
such as battery acid, anti-freeze and lye. It produces an intense high and
is extremely addictive.

Once isolated to pockets of the West Coast, methamphetamine increasingly
has become popular nationwide, spawning complex production and distribution
operations that stretch from Latin America to the Upper Midwest.

The origin of the drugs seized in Wednesday's bust at 2110 Euclid Ave. in
East Palo Alto are still unclear, but authorities are investigating if they
were from Mexico, according to Don O'Keefe, San Mateo County Narcotics Task
Force commander.

O'Keefe said it is also unclear where the seven pounds of methamphetamine
were headed. Some, he said, probably would have been sold in East Palo
Alto.

Though often produced locally, methamphetamine is frequently imported from
Mexico. O'Keefe said the task force is working with the Immigration and
Naturalization Service to determine how many of the suspects are Mexican
citizens.

The four suspects -- Oscar Mendoza Ochoa, 25, of 2110 Euclid Ave.; Sergio
GarcEDa Valencia, 19, of 828 Runnymede; Zeferino SE1nchez Chavez, 27, a
transient; and Jose MarEDa Rosales Cervantes, 63, also a transient -- are
each being held in lieu of $500,000 bail in San Mateo County Jail.

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)