SANTA ROSA, Calif. --
by John Boitnott, Web Producer

California Attorney General Jerry Brown announced Thursday that Department of Justice agents arrested eight suspects Wednesday in connection with a Santa Rosa drug distribution ring and methamphetamine laboratory in the town of Winton, in the Central Valley

State agents also confiscated methamphetamine, marijuana, cocaine, hash, guns and money, Brown said.

“Methamphetamine is a scourge destroying lives and disrupting families throughout many communities in Northern California,” Attorney General Brown said. “These criminals set up a clandestine laboratory, in the small town of Winton, to manufacture this dangerous drug and ship it throughout the state.”

Wednesday's arrests mark the end of a three-onth investigation, led by the California Department of Justice Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, into a drug trafficking ring that started in Santa Rosa, according to Brown's office.

In January, investigators began tracking the Santa Rosa-based suspects and eventually linked their operation to the group in the Winton.

Agents arrested Martin Villanueva-Jacobo, 43, Maria Lopez, 33, and Feliz Lopez-Nunez, 38, in Santa Rosa.

In the town of Winton, agents arrested Jose Marquez, 30, Luis Silva-Murillo, 27, Sonia Ceballos, 20, Hector Aguilar, 22, and Maria Quintero, 28.

All the suspects will be charged with offenses including manufacturing and preparing methamphetamine and possession of methamphetamine, marijuana, cocaine and hash for sale, according to Brown's office.

All suspects were booked in their respective county jails, awaiting arraignment.

When agents served drug-related search warrants in Winton Wednesday, they shut down a hidden laboratory, where powdered methamphetamine was being converted into ICE, a potent, smokeable form of methamphetamine, according to the attorney general's office.

Forty state, local and federal law enforcement agencies, assisted the California Department of Justice in serving the search warrants and making the arrests, Brown said.

Investigators seized 26.9 pounds of ICE and methamphetamine, 69.8 pounds of marijuana, 73.4 grams of hash, 53.8 grams of cocaine, five handguns, four rifles and $45,995 in U.S. currency.

The street value of the seized drugs exceeds $500,000.

The California Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement conducted the investigation that led to the arrests, with assistance from the California Department of Justice’s Bureau of Investigation and Intelligence, Napa Special Investigations Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms, Santa Rosa, Cotati and Petaluma Police Department’s, Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department and the Merced County Narcotic Task Force.