2 SUSPECTS ARRESTED IN LANCASTER DRUG RAID.

Byline: Bhavna Mistry Daily News Staff Writer

Two men suspected of running a methamphetamine-manufacturing operation were arrested during a sheriff's department raid on an isolated home, deputies said Friday.

When sheriff's deputies burst into the home in the 49300 block of 80th Street West at 7 a.m. Thursday, they found one man attempting to flush two ounces of methamphetamine down a toilet and the other trying to swallow a bag containing another ounce of the drug.

"He began to gag on it," said Deputy J.M. Moore, a narcotics investigator.

Arrested were Atenogenes Ortega, 23, who lives in the home, and his 28-year-old brother Javier Gutierrez. Gutierrez and Ortega were being held Friday at the sheriff's station in Antelope Valley on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance for sales in lieu of $15,000 bail.

Searching the garage, sheriff's deputies found the remnants of a methamphetamine lab along with three gallons of methamphetamine oil, capable of producing six pounds of methamphetamines, investigators said.

"It had a strong chemical odor, the windows had been boarded up and the lights had faded in color," said Moore. "We know they had been cooking."

Deputies answered six or seven phone calls in the two hours they were at the home from people ordering methamphetamines. The deputies invited the callers to come over for a sale, but no additional arrests were made.