<p>Police have seized one of the East Coast's largest methamphetamine labs, tucked away in the basement of a Smyrna home, federal officials said Monday.</p><p>Three illegal immigrants from Mexico were arrested for possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. A detention hearing for Ignacio Cortes-Valencia, 24, Gustavo Lara-Murillo, 31, and Ramon Oseguera-Alanis, 34, was expected Tuesday in federal court, said Sherri Strange, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration in Atlanta.</p><p>"This is one of the largest labs to be seized in Georgia and it is the first lab of its nature to be seized in Georgia as well," Strange said.</p><p>Nearly 40 pounds of methamphetamine and 10 pounds of crystalized methamphetamine _ a pure form of the drug _ were seized. The drugs had a street value of $2.8 million, said Strange, who declined to elaborate on how the lab was financed or where the drugs were intended to be sold.</p><p>Police were alerted by complaints from witnesses that strong chemical odors _ often a sign of drug manufacturing _ were coming from the home. In addition, police were informed that two Hispanic men had purchased large amounts of Draino and muriatic acid _ common meth ingredients _ from a hardware store in Smyrna.</p><p>During a Thursday raid on the home, police seized 24 full trash bags of empty pseudoephedrine containers. Officials believe they once contained about 240,000 pills, also commonly used to create meth.</p><p>Previously, other "super-labs" _ those that can create at least 10 pounds of meth in a single day _ have been found in South Carolina, Ohio, Wisconsin, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, California, Oregon and Washington. Most of the large-scale labs are found only in California and Mexico, authorities said.</p>
