A woman on the run after a big methamphetamine bust in North Georgia may have her two small children with her, authorities say.
Arrest warrants were issued for 32-year-old Clara Catarino Mendoza after officers found a meth lab Wednesday in a Dahlonega house connected to her. She is charged with conspiracy to manufacture and traffic methamphetamine.
Discovery of the lab in the Mendoza house came days after authorities had dismantled another, $3.2-million, meth lab and arrested five others.
The Appalachian Regional Drug Enforcement Office said evidence taken in that first bust led them to search two properties in Dahlonega linked to Mendoza.
One was a house that had been destroyed by a fire suspected as arson. At the other site, officers found the second meth lab, seven 55-gallon drums, three of which tested positive for methamphetamine, two AR-15 rifles, a pistol grip shotgun and a handgun. Authorities said the lab there distributed 385 gallons of methamphetamine worth millions.
Officials said the lab broken up Friday was capable of producing 25 to 50 kilograms of meth at a time. Five people were arrested on trafficking and conspiracy to manufacture charges after authorities found 30 kilograms of crystal meth, several grams of cocaine and $166,000 in cash.
Angel Luis Rivera-Santiago, 42, of Norcross, Victor Rafael Aponte, 30, of Dahlonega, and Valentine Duarte-Vejar, 25, of Dahlonega, were charged with trafficking methamphetamine. Eleoncio Perez-Pineda, 29, of Dahlonega, and Jose Mario Duarte-Vejar, 25, of Dahlonega, were later arrested and charged with conspiracy to manufacture meth. The men were taken to the Lumpkin County Detention Center.
Mendoza is charged with conspiracy to manufacture and traffic methamphetamine. She is believed to be driving a 2006 yellow H2 Hummer with Georgia tag PYX5020, a 2003 gray Ford Superduty truck with the Georgia tag PKM9409 or a white 4-door BMW with an unknown model and tag.
She is described as 5-foot-1 and 125 pounds. Descriptions of her children were not released.
Anyone with information regarding Mendoza’s whereabouts is asked to call the Lumpkin County Sheriff’s Office at 706-864-3633, the GBI at 1-800-597-8477 or the FBI at 1-800-255-5324.
— Staff writer Mark Niesse contributed to this article.
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