USA - Forged Vicodin script leads to mescaline lab bust

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Peyote lab, pot farm busted
Strange brew tips deputies
Melissa Pinion-Whitt, Staff Writer
Article Created: 08/28/2008 07:57:06 PM PDT

YUCAIPA - What started as an investigation into a forged Vicodin prescription turned into the discovery of something very rare - a mescaline lab in San Bernardino County.

The Sheriff's Department bust occurred Monday in a cul-de-sac where deputies say the lab operators had lived only a couple of months. When narcotics detectives began searching the Lincoln Drive home, they thought the suspects were making methamphetamine.

"Some of the chemicals weren't consistent with meth production, and it struck us as odd," said San Bernardino County sheriff's Sgt. Gary Odebralski.

They found a 5-gallon jug containing liquid and chemicals. There were beakers, flasks, Pyrex dishes and a hot plate. Scattered around the property were 200 cactuses.

After making a few phone calls, deputies discovered it wasn't meth but mescaline they were dealing with. They suspect the jug contained liquid mescaline. They also found about 2 ounces of mescaline powder, according to Odebralski.

Deputies stumbled onto the lab after they received a report of someone using a forged prescription to get Vicodin at a pharmacy.

Adam Caward, 24, left before deputies arrived, but his girlfriend, Ashley Clark, 23, remained at the store. Deputies tracked down Caward at the home in the 33800 block of Lincoln Drive about 5 p.m.

They found the mescaline lab in a bedroom and about 50 marijuana plants - ranging from 3 to 5 feet tall - in the cellar. Odebralski estimated
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the pot had a street value of $175,000, but deputies have no estimate on mescaline.

"We've had difficulty coming up with street values for it, because no one's actually seen it," he said.

Deputies booked Caward and Clark into Central Detention Center in San Bernardino. They were charged Thursday with manufacturing and possessing mescaline for sale, and possessing marijuana for sale.

According to court records, Caward was arrested in July 2004 on suspicion of processing peyote and growing marijuana in Chino. The peyote charge was dismissed, but he pleaded guilty to cultivating marijuana and was sentenced to a drug-diversion program. He was arrested again in 2006 on suspicion of possessing more than 1 ounce of pot, court records show.

Investigators said Caward was at first apprehensive but then began describing his operation freely.

"He was just proud of what he was doing. He was almost bragging about it," Odebralski said.

http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_10329889


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Bust for mescaline at Yucaipa home called first in S.B. County

By PAUL LAROCCO
The Press-Enterprise

An investigation of forged prescriptions led to a suspected mescaline operation at a Yucaipa home, and a bust detectives say is a first for San Bernardino County.

The discovery of the hallucinogenic drug, derived from cactuses, was made Monday night at the home in the 33800 block of Lincoln Drive, officials said.

"We don't come across it at all, and it was a surprise," said San Bernardino County sheriff's narcotics Sgt. Gary Odebralski.

Deputies were investigating the possible forgery of prescriptions being filled at a local pharmacy. But when they did a sweep of the house after arresting a suspect there, they found chemicals, powders and glass tubes.

"It looked like a meth lab, but there were some things that were missing," Odebralski said. "So we threw our heads together and figured out they were making mescaline."

About 200 small cactuses were found growing on the property, Odebralski said. Mescaline can be produced by extracting liquid from the cactuses, breaking it down and evaporating it into a powder.

Typically, the drug is smoked or ingested in gel-caps, Odebralski said. The suspects had been using chemicals and equipment in their bedroom to manufacture the drug for at least several months, he said.

Also found was a $175,000 marijuana garden in the cellar, with 50 plants from 3 to 5 feet tall and timer-controlled lights and fans, officials said.

The mescaline operation is the first that anyone in the sheriff's narcotics division could remember discovering in the county, Odebralski said.

Although the substance is no harder to produce than methamphetamine, it is less popular, he said.

Adam Caward, 24, and his girlfriend, Ashley Clark, 23, who live at the house, were arrested on suspicion of possessing marijuana plants and manufacturing a controlled substance.

Caward also was booked on suspicion of forgery and Clark on suspicion of being an accessory. Both are being held on West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga. Bail has been set at $500,000.

Staff writer John Asbury contributed to this report.

http://www.pe.com/localnews/sbcounty...9.471fa22.html