Methamphetamine

A police hazardous materials team was cleaning a West Los Angeles apartment Sunday after authorities discovered a methamphetamine lab inside the unit. Los Angeles police arrived at the apartment in the 2100 block of South Bentley Avenue on Saturday to search for evidence related to a homicide investigation in Stanislaus County. That's when they discovered the methamphetamine ingredients and equipment, Lt. Tony Carranza said. The apartment building was evacuated after the discovery.

Local and federal authorities moved Thursday to break up an alleged drug trafficking ring connecting a major Mexican cartel to San Gabriel Valley street gangs and arrested 17 people in a pre-dawn sweep. A federal indictment unsealed Thursday charges 27 people with making, possessing and dealing methamphetamine imported by La Familia Michoacana, one of Mexico's most violent cartels, to two Pomona gangs: Los Amables and Westside Pomona Malditos. Thursday's crackdown is the culmination of Operation Crystal Light, a 16-month investigation by the San Gabriel Valley Safe Streets Gang Task Force.

Until he raised his pistol for the last time, Ignacio Coronel Villarreal was known for keeping his head low and footprints light. In a world populated by many larger-than-life drug bosses, the slightly built Coronel ruled with a quiet ruthlessness. He was seldom photographed and moved so carefully in the suburb of mansions where he lived in western Mexico that just one bodyguard was with him when the dragnet closed. Even his age and birthplace are a source of mystery. This much is known: By the time Mexican troops killed Coronel on Thursday outside the city of Guadalajara, he had reached the top rungs of drug trafficking, lording over a broad stretch of the Pacific coast as part of a years-long alliance with the country's most-wanted crime boss, Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman.

The man with eight pounds of methamphetamine in his carry-on bag stood in the snaking security line at Los Angeles International Airport's Terminal 4, inching toward the checkpoint, when a TSA screener approached. But it wasn't to stop the contraband, according to prosecutors. It was to make sure it got through. The screener, John Whitfield, allegedly told the man to get to the back of the line so he and his luggage would get to the X-ray machines when Whitfield's shift started.

Workplace drug testing data show methamphetamine continues to be a significant problem in the Western states. In data released Friday of U.S. workplace drug-screening tests in 2010, Hawaii ranked first in the highest rates of positive screens for methamphetamine--410% greater than the national average. The rates in Arkansas and Oklahoma were also high, 280% and 240% above the national average, respectively. California's rate was 140% above the average. Overall, positive methamphetamine screens in the workplace stands at 0.10% nationally.

Local and federal authorities moved Thursday to break up an alleged drug trafficking ring connecting a major Mexican cartel to San Gabriel Valley street gangs and arrested 17 people in a pre-dawn sweep. A federal indictment unsealed Thursday charges 27 people with making, possessing and dealing methamphetamine imported by La Familia Michoacana, one of Mexico's most violent cartels, to two Pomona gangs: Los Amables and Westside Pomona Malditos. Thursday's crackdown is the culmination of Operation Crystal Light, a 16-month investigation by the San Gabriel Valley Safe Streets Gang Task Force.

Glendale police raided a methamphetamine laboratory in Reseda, arrested three suspects and seized chemicals used to manufacture the drug, officers said Wednesday. Johnathan Scott Alexander, 38, of Woodland Hills, Johnnie Marine Stamper, 23, of Canoga Park and Robyn Sandra Burgard, 37, of Reseda were arrested Tuesday on suspicion of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine and possession of methamphetamine for sale, Glendale police said.

A 28-year-old Stanton man was arrested Wednesday on charges of having more than $500,000 worth of methamphetamine solution, sheriff's officials said. Devin Toshiro Iseri was taken into custody after authorities searched his apartment in the 8100 block of Lampson Street. The search concluded a weeklong investigation, Sheriff's Lt. Ron Wilkerson said. Wilkerson said deputies found chemicals used to make methamphetamine, and 8 ounces of methamphetamine solution, which when dried is ready for sale.

A husband and wife were arrested after authorities discovered a methamphetamine laboratory operating out of a bedroom closet in their Pasadena home, police said Thursday. Two homes next to the couple's two-story residence were evacuated for a time after authorities discovered what they thought was an explosive device in the same closet, Sheriff's Deputy Bill Linnemeyer said. Bomb experts blew it up as a precaution.

A Fountain Valley physician has been convicted of illegally distributing the drug pseudo ephedrine, the major ingredient of methamphetamine, authorities said. Dr. Fredesminda Yabut-Baluyut, 56, was found guilty Tuesday of putting nearly 12 million tablets of the drug, an over-the-counter cold medication regulated by the government, into illicit methamphetamine manufacturing channels.

Reporting from San Francisco -- The California Supreme Court on Thursday voted unanimously to overturn the death penalty of an Orange County man convicted of burning a woman to death over $100 of methamphetamine. The state high court ruled that Orange County Superior Court Judge John J. Ryan failed to properly instruct the jury that voted for the death sentence for Gary Galen Brents, who was convicted of the 1995 murder of Kelly Gordon. Gordon was a prostitute who worked for Brents and had agreed to sell $100 in methamphetamine for him. When he tried to collect, she had neither the drugs nor the money.

Forget about rock 'n' roll: When rats are administered the highly addictive stimulant methamphetamine and allowed to engage in sexual behavior while high, all they want is more of both. That's the raw finding of a study published Tuesday by the Journal of Neuroscience. It's important because many who use methamphetamine report that it enhances their sexual experience. But because it also reduces their inhibitions , those abusers are more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior , including unprotected sex and anal intercourse.

A Cal State San Bernardino professor who chaired academic committees, tweeted his concerns about child obesity and lived quietly in a well-trimmed Highland neighborhood stands accused of living a shadow life of a heavily armed biker-gang member and drug dealer. The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department on Thursday said Stephen J. Kinzey, a 43-year-old kinesiology professor, allegedly led a local chapter of the Devils Diciples Outlaw motorcycle gang and a methamphetamine drug operation that brought in tens of thousands of dollars.

Workplace drug testing data show methamphetamine continues to be a significant problem in the Western states. In data released Friday of U.S. workplace drug-screening tests in 2010, Hawaii ranked first in the highest rates of positive screens for methamphetamine--410% greater than the national average. The rates in Arkansas and Oklahoma were also high, 280% and 240% above the national average, respectively. California's rate was 140% above the average. Overall, positive methamphetamine screens in the workplace stands at 0.10% nationally.

When deputies raided a suspected drug house in San Bernardino County this week, much of what they found was typical: guns, pipes and meth. It's what they found in the backyard that shocked them: about two dozen custom granite tombstones scattered haphazardly across the yard. "It is a bizarre scenario," said San Bernardino County Sheriff's Deputy Mike Walker, who was at the scene. "It's not something we come across very often, [or] at all, really. " Authorities believe the residents of the home, who were allegedly selling methamphetamine, dug at least some of the tombstones out from a cemetery in the city of Colton about two miles away.

On the morning of June 29, 2008, Robert Moran made a $4.75-million mistake. He had knocked back a couple of beers hours earlier, dressed for work, jumped into his employer's SUV and headed off on an important assignment. He was drunk and allegedly speeding when he collided with a smaller car, seriously injuring the other driver. Moran, a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy, was convicted of drunk driving and sentenced to six months in jail. He managed to keep his job with the Sheriff's Department, but his conduct still exacted a costly toll — at least for county taxpayers who have to pay the multimillion-dollar settlement approved by the Board of Supervisors last week.

Rep. Steve Kuykendall (R-Rancho Palos Verdes) and the House subcommittee on crime held congressional hearings Thursday at the Redondo Beach Public Library on the spread of methamphetamine trafficking, production and addiction in Los Angeles County.

A man convicted of murder after tattooing detailed images of the crime on his chest is now facing charges that he and two family members were part of a ring attempting to smuggle drugs into Los Angeles County Jail. While investigating Anthony Garcia's role in a Pico Rivera slaying, Sgt. Kevin Lloyd of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said he found evidence that Garcia, his brother, mother and two others were conspiring to smuggle in heroin and methamphetamines. All five have been arrested and are facing felony attempted narcotics smuggling charges.

It's well-known that highly addictive methamphetamine wreaks havoc (for an illustration of the drug's ravages, just take a look at these before-and-after portraits from Portland, Ore.) But faces, and brains, aren't the only parts of the body the drug affects, researchers at the University of Illinois in Champaign said Wednesday.  Studying meth exposure in fruit flies, the team showed that meth also alters chemical reactions in the body associated with generating energy, forming sperm cells and regulating hormones and muscles.