Drug lab found in Northwest Miami-Dade

A suburban neighborhood in Miami-Dade has been host to an unwelcome home business: a sophisticated narcotics lab.

Miami-Dade police said they uncovered a chemical lab equipped to churn out lucrative street drugs, including LSD, molly and crystal methamphetamines. There were more than 100,000 empty pill capsules ready to be filled inside what a police spokesman called “a nice modern home inside a residential area.”

“It’s rare to find a clandestine lab” beyond the water-based grow houses dedicated to marijuana plans, said Alvaro Zabaleta, spokesman for the Miami-Dade Police Department. “To have a clandestine lab, you really need to know what you’re doing.”

Police had served eviction papers at the two-story house at 8028 NW 200th Street, and were back Saturday morning to remove the occupants. That’s when they discovered the drug-making equipment, Zabaleta said, along with a high-powered rifle.

State and federal drug squads were called in Saturday as officers emptied the house of its drug-making equipment. There was no immediate information on arrests.

This story was originally published May 10, 2015 at 12:40 AM with the headline "Drug lab found in Northwest Miami-Dade."