News

Police: Children living in home-based Bonney Lake meth lab

TACOMA, Wash. — Quick Facts:

  • Police say meth labs found in Sumner, Bonney Lake homes
  • Children, 8 and 12, living in Bonney Lake home
  • Meth found in every room of Bonney Lake home
  • Liquid meth being converted into crystal form of meth

A couple was arraigned Wednesday afternoon on charges related to cooking and distributing methamphetamine in a man’s Bonney Lake and Sumner homes.

Police said there were also guns in the Bonney Lake house where two young children lived.

Prosecutors called it significant operation that had been in place for a while.

Police said they found multiple pounds of crystal meth in every room of the Bonney Lake house, along with all the components used to cook it.

Also found were digital scales, packaging materials, thousands of dollars in cash, two pistols and two rifles.

Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist called it a new kind of meth lab – a conversion lab.

“They ship -- smuggle liquid methamphetamine into the state and then convert it to crystal meth and these labs are as dangerous as the old labs,” said Lindquist.

Authorities said the liquid meth that makes its way up from Mexico is easier to hide and move.

Police said they found more than a dozen jars of it throughout the home – some of it even on the stove.

“They are a huge environmental hazard.  They are likely to blow up. They emit toxic fumes that are dangerous,” said Lindquist.

Jesus Villagomez-Ledezma, 30, and his girlfriend, Rosa Cuevas-Valencia, 38, are charged with unlawful manufacturing of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. Villagomez-Ledezma is also charged with having a firearm while not being a U.S. citizen.

Cuevas-Valencia’s children, an 8-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy, were living in the home where prosecutors said the refrigerator, oven and eating areas were contaminated with items covered in meth residue.

Lindquist said the children are with protective services and are being tested to see if they were exposed to the drugs.

Villagomez-Ledezma is being held in lieu of $600,000 bail.  Cuevas-Valencia’s bail was set at $100,000.