Meth Lab Seized in Guadalajara

Original article in Spanish: Blog del Narco

10/19/10 - The arrest of two men who are originally from the state of Michoacan also resulted in the seizure of a large meth lab in Mexticacán, a rural town outside of Guadalajara.

Police detained two men who were walking alongside a road in an area known as Ojueles. The men dropped an AR-15 and a large bucket, before attempting to flee on foot when they saw the policemen approaching. The officers quickly caught up to the two suspects and upon further investigation discovered the bucket contained a large amount of processed crystal methamphetamine.

The men were identified as Fernando Andrade Torres, age 35 y originally from Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán, and Antonio González Sánchez, age 30 and originally form Bellavista, another municipality in Michoacán.

After being interrogated, the men led the officers to a bodega which was being used to manufacture the synthetic drug.

In total, 575 kilos of crystal methamphetamine was found, along with 210.2 kilos of an unknown white powder, suspected to be a precursor of the drug, possibly ephedrine.

On the black market, the 210.2 kilos of precursor could fetch up to $53,325,000 Pesos.

The custody of the two men was given to the office of the Attorney General for the Republic of Mexico.

Also in Mexticacán: On Wednesday October 13th, Mario Mejía Ruvalcaba, a police captain for the local precinct was assassinated in his jurisdiction during an ambush in Valle de Guadalajara. The assassins set up a fake accident and used the opportunity to fire their weapons at the vehicle when Ruvalcaba's car slowed down to investigate the scene.

The police captain's driver managed to survive the attack. Authorities still investigating whether that fact is related to the crime itself.