SAN JOSE – Two men have been charged in U.S. District Court with operating a methamphetamine conversion lab in San Jose and distributing the drug, authorities said.
In a news release, the U.S. Department of Justice said Mario Orozco of San Jose agreed to sell four ounces of methamphetamine to a “cooperating source” for $3,500, and on June 18, Teodoro Ayon-Ramos delivered the drug to the source in San Jose.
Both men were arrested at their homes on Tuesday.
According to court records, Orozco and Ayon-Ramos smuggled methamphetamine by dissolving it in buckets of paint and extracting it at a warehouse on Stockton Avenue in San Jose, where it was converted into crystal form, the department said.
If convicted of the charges, the men each face a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison and a fine of $5 million.
Orozco and Ayon-Ramos made their initial appearance in federal court in San Francisco on Wednesday. Both men remain in custody pending further proceedings. Orozco is scheduled to make his next court appearance Friday and Ayon-Ramos on Monday.
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