POLICE DISCOVER METH LAB NEAR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Investigation in Rancho Cucamonga and El Monte Results in Five Arrests,
Seizure of $1 Million and Drugs.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- Officers conducting a search found a methamphetamine
lab in a house just 30 feet from an elementary school Wednesday morning.

In a simultaneous search at a home in El Monte, officers found 10 pounds of
finished methamphetamine and $1 million in cash, Baldwin Park Police Lt.
Michael Davis said. The cash came from narcotics sales, police said.

Investigators believe the drugs found at the El Monte address were
manufactured at a house on the 7400 block of Ivy Lane in Rancho Cucamonga,
which is near Dona Merced Elementary School.

In all, five people were arrested. Investigators suspect they are illegal
Mexican immigrants, and none had been verifiably identified by Wednesday
afternoon.

Narcotics officers obtained two search warrants as part of a larger,
ongoing drug investigation, Davis said. Police were authorized to search a
home in the 2700 block of Chico Avenue in El Monte and the one in Rancho
Cucamonga.

The warrants were served at 7 a.m., Davis said.

In Rancho Cucamonga, the officers arrested three men in their 20s. Two more
suspects were found at the home in El Monte, and two live grenades were
found in a bedroom there. The search had to be delayed for more than an
hour as the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department bomb squad neutralized
the grenades.

At the Rancho Cucamonga address, officers found the highly flammable
precursors for methamphetamine, Davis said.

"Because this methamphetamine lab was operational within 30 feet of a
school, our primary concern was to shut it down safely and get the place
ventilated," Davis said.

All five men are expected to be charged with manufacturing methamphetamine.
They may also face an enhancement for operating a methamphetamine lab
within 100 yards of a public school.

The investigation into other suspects continues.

"There may be more locations and more people involved," Davis said. "We
expect some additional cases to break based upon the investigation."