THREE ARRESTED IN PANHANDLE'S BIGGEST METHAMPHETAMINE BUST

The largest methamphetamine bust in the history of the Panhandle took place
Saturday at a hotel on West Beach Drive in Panama City. It resulted in
three arrests and the seizure of a half-million dollars worth of the
illicit drug.

Reynaldo Hernandez-Reyes, 34, Alfonso Quintana-Ruiz, 23, and Hugo Nelson
Figueroa, 39, were charged with possession of 21 pounds of methamphetamine
with conspiracy to distribute.

"Given the average dosage, that amount of methamphetamine could intoxicate
several hundreds of thousands of people," said Carl Pike, an agent with the
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

The DEA, U.S. Marshal's Service and the Bay County Sheriff's Office
conducted a joint surveillance operation and drug bust based on
investigative leads developed in South Florida, Sheriff Guy Tunnell said.

"I'm extremely glad we can get this off the street," Tunnell said. "It was
a textbook operation."

The three suspects, who made their first appearance in federal court
Tuesday, are suspects in a methamphetamine distribution organization,
deputies reported. If convicted, they face a minimum mandatory prison
sentence of 10 years.

Pike said the local operation was brief, but the DEA has had knowledge of
this organization for some time.

Both Hernandez-Reyes and Quintana-Ruiz are Mexican nationals who were
working at local restaurants in Panama City. Nelson Figueroa is an El
Salvadorian national who was employed at a local hotel.

Tunnell said the drugs are believed to have been manufactured at large labs
in Mexico and smuggled into the United States for distribution.

"My understanding is that this meth organization has its roots in Mexico
where it is common practice for a number of large clandestine labs to mass
produce this stuff," Tunnell said.

Pike said the DEA is experiencing unprecedented cooperation with the
Mexican government in stopping the flow of illegal drugs into the United
States over the Mexican border.

However, the drug continues to gain popularity in the U.S. because it is
easily produced and relatively inexpensive for users, investigators said.

"We are conducting numerous operations in cooperation with Mexico, but it's
a large border," Pike said. "You stop it in one place and it pops back up
somewhere else."

Pike said there is no doubt that Americans are doing business with foreign
drug dealers who also may be involved in terrorist activities aimed at the
United States.

"It's well known that certain groups of people, who have no interest in
seeing America make any more progress than it already has, are selling
large amounts of drugs in this country," Pike said. "For instance,
Afghanistan is the world's largest producer of heroin. It's an efficient
way of making money."

Tunnell said that his office has seen a consistent increase in
methamphetamine manufacturing, distribution and use in Bay County.

"We've had a lot of local labs taken down," Tunnell said "We're seeing a
definite increase in meth use in our area."