A woman was arrested on suspicion of running a drug lab out of her Southern California home that also operated as a children’s day care, authorities said.
San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies discovered the lab after serving a search warrant at the home of 43-year-old Ramona Meza in the 14000 block of Buckskin Court in Victorville (map).
Investigators found 3 pounds of marijuana in bags and two handguns, which were easily accessible to the five young children she cared for, sheriff's officials said. One of the guns had been reported stolen.
Deputies also found two ounces of concentrated marijuana, 90 canisters of butane and a pressure cooker in the garage, which deputies said was being used as a drug lab for concentrated cannabis, also called honey oil.
Honey oil extraction is an extremely dangerous process with a high possibility for fire or explosions due to the large amounts of butane used. A suspected lab in Muscoy blew a small home apart late last month, killing a man.
When investigators first arrived to Meza's home, two children were found unattended while Meza was picking up the other children, deputies said.
Meza's two children were taken into custody by child protective services, deputies said. The other three children, who were being cared for by Meza, were returned to their parents.
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All five children were under the age of 6, deputies said.
Meza is facing charges of manufacturing concentrated cannabis, possession of stolen firearms and multiple counts of child endangerment.
It was unclear if the day care was licensed.
Tony Shin contributed to this report.
