Drug agents arrested a San Jose man Thursday who allegedly knew
that his property in San Juan Bautista was being used as
methamphetamine
”
super
”
lab.
Drug agents arrested a San Jose man Thursday who allegedly knew that his property in San Juan Bautista was being used as methamphetamine “super” lab.
Jose Vidrio, 59, of 181 Southside Drive in San Jose was the fourth person arrested by the Unified Narcotic Enforcement Team in connection with the large methamphetamine lab discovered Feb. 21 at 482 Olympia Road.
Vidrio is being held in San Benito County Jail on suspicion of drug manufacturing in lieu of $500,000 bail.
“The good thing is that we’ve got him,” UNET Commander Bob Cooke said. “He’s been allowing that site to be used for cooking (methamphetamine) for a long time.”
From the amount of toxic wastes found on the property, Cooke said he believes it may have been a methamphetamine manufacturing site for a year or more.
Although Vidrio is not accused of making methamphetamine, if he knowingly allowed the drug to be manufactured on his property it is still a felony violation under the state’s drug laws.
Vidrio, who reportedly has prior convictions for spousal battery and false imprisonment, was also allegedly in violation of his parole. Drug agents on Thursday confiscated two rifles from his home and a shotgun from his car. The weapons apparently belonged to Vidrio, Cooke said.
Under the terms of his parole, Vidrio is not allowed to possess a firearm.
Along with possible prison time, Vidrio could lose the 10-acre parcel on Olympia Road.
“If it’s possible, we are going to seize that property,” Sheriff Curtis Hill said.
Under certain conditions, state law allows counties to seize property or homes that are knowingly being used to manufacture or cultivate drugs.
“If there’s a property owner involved in drug manufacturing, they’re going to face the full brunt of the law,” Hill said. “We’re going to do everything we can to go after them and their property.”
Hill said the county used the law to seize a home in Aromas a number of years ago when the property owners were repeatedly using their home to grow and process marijuana.
Vidrio joins Octavio Guadalupe Abad, 38, Francisco Moroyoqui Diaz, 71, and Jesus Torres, 21, who are all being in county jail on suspicion of manufacturing methamphetamine stemming from their arrest at the Olympia Road meth lab.
The alleged drug-making operation could have produced up to 30 pounds of methamphetamine in a three-day cooking cycle, Cooke said. Thirty pounds of methamphetamine would have an estimated street value of more than $816,000, officials said.
Deputies reportedly found the drug lab at about 9 p.m. Feb. 21 when they went to the Olympia Road residence to serve a $10,000 arrest warrant on a woman who supposedly lived there.
However, when deputies went to the home, they started talking to Abad, Diaz, Torres and an unidentified fourth man who fled on foot when he saw deputies approaching.
Deputies chased the fleeing man through a nearby orchard but lost him under the cover of darkness. He is still at large.
Abad, Diaz and Torres gave deputies permission to look inside the home for the woman named in the warrant. During their search, deputies saw a number of suspicious items that resembled materials used to make methamphetamine.
A deputy sergeant called UNET with his suspicions, which drug agents confirmed. Deputies stayed on the property while drug agents got a search warrant.
UNET brought members of the Department of Justice’s South Bay Methamphetamine Task Force and members of the Department of Justice’s Crime Lab to search the residence.
Along with a 12-gauge shotgun and a .44 magnum revolver, drug agents reportedly found 25 to 30 gallons of methamphetamine being manufactured in a barn behind the house, Cooke said.
