Seven arrested meth operation

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - One of the largest methamphetamine labs ever found in Volusia County was raided Thursday morning. Narcotics agents with search warrants for two homes found an active methamphetamine lab in one in Port Orange and an equipped but inactive lab in one near New Smyrna Beach.

By the end of the day seven men and women were arrested on various drug-related charges and the homemade lab components and finished drug products were safely seized.

A four-month investigation led up to the 6 a.m. raid when the Volusia County Sheriff's Offices Eastside Narcotics Task Force and SWAT team served the search warrants on 1209 Harbour Point Drive, Port Orange and 4129 Treadway Road, New Smyrna Beach.

Once all occupants of the homes were secured outside, narcotics agents certified to handle meth lab materials began their searches for the volatile lab materials.

Investigators found the chemicals and equipment needed to start a meth lab at the Treadway Road home, but it didn't look like production had started there yet. The Harbour Point Drive home was actively churning out meth, though, with 98 grams of meth oil, which was just one step away from becoming the finished product, and 22 grams of meth powder found.

The drug sells for about $100 a gram. In addition to the active meth lab, a safe full of various pills - such as Lortab, Valium and Xanax - was found, with the drugs all packaged and ready to be sold.

All defendants were transported to the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach. Arrested were Cecil Fore, 47, Steven Johnson, 39, Danny Montgomery, 61, Angel Sommo, 28, Brandy Tremblay, 33, Jason Wagers, 43, and Francesco Vezza, 53.

The Eastside Narcotics Task Forces is multi-agency force of investigators from the Volusia County Sheriffs Office, Daytona Beach Police Department, Ormond Beach Police Department, Edgewater Police Department and New Smyrna Beach Police Department that shares resources and crosses jurisdictional boundaries to combat street-level drug and vice crimes.