Second Meth Lab Found In $3.2 Million Georgia Bust

DAHLONEGA, GA — A second north Georgia meth lab has been discovered and a woman is on the run in connection with a $3.2 million bust state and local authorities made last week.

The investigation of what authorities call a major meth trafficking ring also has led officers to a burned-down home in Dahlonega where they suspect arson.

On Tuesday, FBI agents, the Appalachian Regional Drug Enforcement Office and Lumpkin County Sheriff's Office executed search warrants at two north Georgia addresses based on evidence they gathered in last week's bust. When they did, they discovered that one of the homes — on Iberian Road in Dahlonega — had been destroyed by fire.

The state Fire Marshal's office is investigating that fire, but authorities suspect the fire was set intentionally.

At the other address, on Antique Way, investigators say they found the second methamphetamine lab connected with this investigation. Agents say components found at the lab were consistent with a lab discovered Friday in Suches. (SIGN UP: Get Patch's Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

They found seven empty 55-gallon drums, three of which tested positive for methamphetamine, two AR-15 rifles, a pistol-grip shotgun and a handgun.

"It is fair to say that this North Georgia Law Enforcement Team has dismantled a criminal organization that at a minimum has produced and distributed 385 gallons of methamphetamine onto the streets of our communities," the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a news release. "Conservatively, this equates to hundreds of kilograms of crystal methamphetamine. The street value of this amount of methamphetamine is in the millions."

On Friday, a traffic stop in north Georgia led authorities to busting the Suches methamphetamine lab and seizing a staggering $3.2 million worth of the drug.

In Lumpkin County, sheriff's deputies stopped Angel Luis Rivera-Santiago and Victor Rafael Aponte and seized 15 kilograms of meth, according to the GBI. A follow-up investigation by the sheriff's office and FBI agents led them to 990 Flanders Rd. in Dahlonega, where authorities say Valentine Duarte-Vejar tried to run away.

He was captured, the GBI said, in possession of a handgun and a search warrant at the home yielded several grams of cocaine and $166,000 in cash. Agents continued to follow leads and found what they say was a meth conversion lab at 843 Cooper Creek Rd. in Suches — a town north of Dahlonega near the North Carolina state line.

Conversion labs are used to convert liquid methamphetamine into its crystal form. Agents say they located a handgun and 15 kilograms of meth at the lab. Agents also processed about 300 pounds of environmental waste, much of it containing methamphetamine oil.

The street value of the 30 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine seized Friday is $3,234,000, the GBI said.

Authorities say both properties searched on Tuesday were linked to Clara Catarino Mendoza, 32. She is believed to have fled with her two young children and warrants for her arrest have been issued on charges of conspiracy to manufacture and traffic methamphetamine.

She is described as a Hispanic female, standing 5'1" and weighing about 125 pounds. Mendoza is believed to be driving either a yellow 2006 H2 Hummer, with Georgia tag PYX 5020, a gray Ford Superduty truck, with Georgia tag PKM 9409, or a white BMW four-door sedan.

Anyone with information about her whereabouts is asked to contact the Lumpkin County Sheriff's Office at 706-864-3633, the GBI at 1-800-597-8477, the FBI at 1-800-225-5324 or their local police department.

Photos courtesy Georgia Bureau of Investigation