Local, federal agents bust up big drug lab in Barrow County

Posted 9:43AM on Monday, June 26, 2017

Drug agents with the Barrow County Sheriff's Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration recently busted up a meth lab in Bethlehem where they found enough liquid methamphetamine to produce $1 million worth of crystal meth.

"The Barrow County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Unit received information from a credible source that liquid methamphetamine had been transported from Mexico to 1625 Sedgefield Trail in Bethlehem for the purpose of converting it to crystal meth," said Barrow County Sheriff's Capt. Ryan Sears in a press statement.

When authorities got to the scene, Sears said they found a large quantity of liquid meth at the residence.

"At the execution of a search warrant, 19 one-gallon containers filled with liquid methamphetamine were located in a bedroom closet," Sears said. "This yielded approximately 45 pounds of crystal methamphetamine with a street value of $1,000,000."

Sears said five suspects were arrested on June 14 and are now being held without bond at the Barrow County Detention Center.

Sears identified the suspects as Catarino Lopez, Sergio Lopez, Arturo Lopez-Torres, Jhonnathan Ulivi Vergara and Julio Moreno-Nieto. He did not outline specific charges for the suspects.

In addition to the liquid meth, Sears said the agents found three firearms, marijuana, cocaine and more than $250,000 in cash.