TAFT, Calif.(KBAK/KBFX) — Five Mexican residents were arrested on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, following a multi-agency operation that dismantled a large methamphetamine conversion lab in Taft, according to the Kern County Sheriff’s Office. The operation uncovered 242.2 pounds of methamphetamine and over 2,500 pounds of methamphetamine in solution.
The Kern County Sheriff’s Office, in collaboration with the Kern County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, the Rural Crimes Investigations Unit, the Bakersfield Police Department Major Narcotics unit, and the Department of Fish and Wildlife, executed a search warrant at a residence in the 700 block of North Street in Taft.
During the investigation, authorities arrested:
- Abraham Casarez, 21, of Sinaloa, Mexico
- Jorge Castro-Medina, 43, of Mexico City
- Emanuel Carmen, 40, of Mexico City
- Julio Valencia-Hurtado, 38, of Mexico City
- Lauriano Castro, 45, of Mexico City
Castro was arrested in the 4900 block of South Union Avenue in Bakersfield…