Valley Center
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The Border Patrol stumbled across a methamphetamine laboratory Friday in Valley Center and arrested five men in connection with making the illegal drug.
Border Patrol Agents Arthur White and Scott Baker were investigating reports of alien smuggling when they came across the lab on Lilac Road, said Border Patrol spokesman Mike Nicly.
Inside the lab, officials found 70 pounds of methamphetamine, with an estimated street value of $4 million, a small cache of firearms and nearly $5,000 in cash.
Officials said the factory was large enough to produce about 20 pounds of methamphetamine a day.
Arrested at the scene were brothers Alejandro Navarro Artiaga, 26, and Jose Antonio Navarro Artiaga, 31, who, along with a third suspect, Jesus Antonio Payanes-Lama, 22, are believed to be illegal aliens. The two other men arrested were identified as Jose Rene Rodriguez, 25, and Juan Manuel Lopez-Samavia, 21.
The five were taken to the Metropolitan Correctional Center, where they are being held on suspicion of manufacturing methamphetamine.
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