Drug agents on Thursday morning busted a home that allegedly contained an Ecstasy lab with drugs worth an estimated $1 million.
Drug Enforcement Agency officials called the raid on the two-story Green Valley Ranch tract home “rare and significant” because there have been only 115 Ecstasy-lab busts in the U.S. and only three others in Colorado.
Cameron Bartley, 30, and Monica Lee Pywell, 45, were arrested on drug charges as they left the home in the 19000 block of East 53rd Avenue.
Agents confirmed that Bartley is employed by Hooters Air, but they did not have any information that the drugs were being trafficked by plane. A navy Jeep Wrangler with a Hooters Air logo on the side was parked outside the house, which is Bartley’s.
Officials at Hooters Air could not be reached for comment late Thursday.
The house is a few miles away from Denver International Airport.
“We were concerned about an airline hook, but we don’t know of one,” said Jeffrey Sweetin, special DEA agent in charge.
FAA records show Bartley has a 2001 private pilot’s license that he obtained in New Zealand. He does not have an air-transport license, which is required to fly commercial aircraft.
Agents began an investigation several months ago. Although Sweetin would not say how they learned about the drugs, he did say labs can be found by tracking purchases of other items such as chemicals, glassware and sassafras oil, an ingredient in Ecstasy.
Most Ecstasy is made overseas and trafficked into the U.S., making the local find extremely rare, Sweetin said.
The synthetic, psychoactive drug is chemically similar to methamphetamine and the hallucinogen mescaline, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
The last known Colorado Ecstasy lab was found in 2000.
The alleged drug found Thursday was in powder form. Some was in capsules, as it is typically sold.
Agents found a loaded AR-14 assault rifle with a scope under the bed in the master bedroom and three other guns.
Lab solvents and chemicals used to make the drug were also found.
“We are really happy that the investigation led us here,” Sweetin said. “This is a huge victory.”
Staff writer Felisa Cardona can be reached at 303-820-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com.
