Joint task force hits Westside drug lab

Deepa Bharath

Police and state drug task force members Wednesday afternoon arrested

two Costa Mesa residents in their home, where officers found a lab

used to manufacture a drug commonly used in date rape, officials

said.

The bust was initiated by two state agencies, the Orange County

Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement and the Orange County ProActive Lab

Group, Costa Mesa Police Lt. John FitzPatrick said. Costa Mesa police

officers assisted with the bust, he said.

Police arrested 47-year-old David Noel and Chris Mazzie, 32. Both

were released on Wednesday pending further investigation, FitzPatrick

said. No charges had been filed against Noel or Mazzie, he said.

Officials went into the home in the 800 block of Governor Street

and dismantled the GHB lab, FitzPatrick said. He would not comment

further because of the ongoing investigation.

Neighbors on Governor Street said they were shocked at the police

activity and disappointed to learn about a drug lab in their

otherwise peaceful neighborhood.

“I was unaware of anything going on in that house,” said James

Lynott, who has lived on that street for 45 years.

Lynott was out getting his mail Wednesday afternoon when he saw a

helicopter flying over his house, a white truck as big as his motor

home and several cars parked across the street.

“No one was in uniform, so I thought the people there were having

a housewarming party,” Lynott said. “But then I saw the big trailer

the forensic experts were in and a lot of people wearing the jackets

marked ‘police.’”

Noel and Mazzie are new to the neighborhood and bought the home

about four or five months ago, he said.

“Governor Street is a sleepy, little street with long-time

residents,” Lynott said. “We’ve raised four children and three

grandchildren here, and it’s been a safe neighborhood. I’m

disappointed.”

Another neighbor, who did not give her name fearing her safety,

said she was curious to know what all the officers were doing at the

home. She said she saw the undercover officers place a clear, plastic

bag on the hood of a car and take pictures.

“The big bag had a lot of smaller bags in it with some stuff,” the

neighbor said. “And when I asked one of the officers what was going

on he said, ‘It’s a domestic dispute.’ I knew it was more than that.”

She said she was “ticked off” that the people who were handcuffed

on Wednesday were released hours later.

“I don’t care how much drugs the police found there,” she said.

“We don’t want anyone selling that stuff in our neighborhood. It gets

me really upset.”

Several other neighbors declined to comment.

GHB labs are not only common all over the country, but also easy

to operate, said Trinka Porrata, a retired Los Angeles Police

Department narcotics detective, drug consultant and president of

Project GHB, a Pasadena-based nonprofit organization that operates an

informational website about the drug.

GHB or gamma Gamma hydroxy butyrate is basically paint stripper

mixed with a drain cleaner, Porrata said.

“It’s usually found in liquid form,” she said. “But it can also be

made into a powder when mixed with acetone.”

GHB labs are not dangerous when used to produce the liquid form,

but can explode if someone sets out to make the powder using acetone,

Porrata said. Many people now use “analogs,” basically “a chemical

cousin” to the drug with similar chemical properties, which when

ingested turns into GHB, she said.

Such labs have rarely been seen in Orange County, although its use

is rampant here, Porrata said.

“It is used quite a bit by athletes to build muscle,” she said.

“But it’s also a big focus in Orange County night clubs, especially

in the beach cities.”

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at deepa.bharath@latimes.com.