Authorities Friday announced the arrest of a 22-year-old man in connection with the city’s largest drug bust in recent history, an investigation that began with a complaint about illegal dumping on a vacant property in Palmdale.
Investigators with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Narcotics Bureau, working alongside the Los Angeles Police Department, dismantled a clandestine methamphetamine conversion laboratory Wednesday near 110th Street East and Avenue M-8, according to the sheriff’s department.
The investigation began after authorities received a complaint about suspected illegal dumping but ultimately led to the seizure of more than 800 pounds of methamphetamine allegedly being manufactured and distributed throughout the Antelope Valley, sheriff’s officials said.
Alejandro Hernandez Guiterrez, of Mexico, was taken into custody and booked on suspicion of manufacturing of a controlled substance.
“This investigation demonstrates how what initially appeared to be a routine call for service quickly evolved into the discovery of a sophisticated criminal enterprise capable of producing and distributing large quantities of methamphetamine,” said Narcotics Bureau Capt. Bobby Dean, adding that the operation also highlights the unpredictable and potentially life-threatening hazards officers encounter while protecting the public.
Anyone with information regarding the investigation was urged to contact the Sheriff’s Narcotics Bureau at 562-946-7125.