Large methamphetamine lab is found at Guadalupe

By Nathan R. Huff

Ever since the nuns left the old Guadalupe College site, things have gone to hell. Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police, responding to a tip from Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District officials, on Jan. 12 discovered a methamphetamine lab in the deteriorating building. More than 50 pounds of unprocessed methamphetamine chemicals were confiscated by local, county and state narcotic enforcement teams.

The drugs, if processed, would have had a street value of more than $1 million. The police had no suspects and had made no arrests at press time.

According to LG-MS Police Captain Duino Giordano, police responded to a tip from open-space district officials, who were walking on the 55-acre former college site as part of their investigation of a vandalized district fence.

"When we got up there and observed what it was, we set up a perimeter," Giordano said. "It was at that time that we called in the specialists."

Officers from the Santa Clara County Specialized Enforcement Team (SCCSET) and the California Department of Justice's Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement were called to the scene. SCCSET S.W.A.T. team officers and armed LG-MS police then cleared the building. No one was found in or around the building.

Because of the volatile nature of methamphetamine chemicals, Giordano said the police exercised extreme caution. The BNE specialists disassembled the equipment and cleaned up the chemicals.

Police said the lab was not incredibly sophisticated, despite its size. The lab's creators most likely put the equipment together at another site, then transported it to the college, Giordano said. The police are still in the process of dusting the equipment for prints, checking license plates and questioning neighbors about any strange or unusual behavior.

Joe Evers, who lives a few hundred yards below the college on Foster Road, was raking leaves when an officer approached him. He said no one in the neighborhood had noticed anything or anyone out of the ordinary. "We've had construction going on above us for about a year, so we see vehicles with equipment going up and down the road all the time."

However, it's likely the perpetrators gained access to the college via an open-space district access road, rather than using the more visible Foster Road. Park Ranger Tom Randall, one of the two district officials at the scene, said they found vehicle tracks leading up to two district gates. Randall said the fence had been cut three times since Christmas.

"It was obvious they were trying to gain access to the college property," Randall said. "In the course of our poking around, that's when we found the suspicious container." In addition to barrels of various sizes, Randall noticed food, chemicals, an industrial burner, a brand-new power generator and unmelted ice.

"At that point, we figured we should probably get the hell out of there," Randall said.

The Guadalupe College site has been vacant since the Sisters of Charity closed down their school for aspiring nuns two decades ago. Developer Joe McCarthy recently bought the property and has won preliminary town and neighborhood approval to build five homes on the site.

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