Adam Estenson and Jana Santo
SANTA BARBARA — Dimethytryptamine (DMT), a powerful hallucinogenic recognized by law enforcement as a Schedule I drug is one of those “home brew” concoctions produced, according to Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department Public Information Officer Kelly Hoover, “through the use of highly toxic and flammable chemicals in an extraction vessel over an open flame.”
As such, those engaged in the production of DMT put themselves and anyone in the vicinity of their work at great risk.
Photo of the seized lab
It’s no wonder then, that a Santa Barbara apartment building was “sealed off” by law enforcement and Santa Barbara County Firefighters in the early evening of May 10th following the discovery of a DMT drug lab inside the unit.
The illegal operation came to the attention of deputies who had been summoned to the property by its owner who sought help in removing unwanted “house guests” living on the premises while the contracted tenant was undergoing a hospital stay.
When deputies arrived, the suspected squatters, Adam Estenson, 28, and Jana Santo, 36, both residents of Ashland Oregon, were not on the premises.
A perfunctory examination of the apartment by deputies revealed the operational drug lab setup, whereupon firefighters cleared the building pursuant to the potential threat of conflagration.
In addition to local authorities, the Los Angeles Interagency Metropolitan Police Apprehension Crime Task Force were also brought in to investigate the lab, at which point it was determined to be a setup for the production of DMT.
Shortly thereafter, SBSD deputies made contact with Estenson and Santo in the parking lot of nearby Cottage Hospital. They were taken into custody without incident and transported to Santa Barbara County Jail and booked for manufacturing and producing a controlled substance, with their bail set at $75,000 each.
Photos: courtesy Santa Barbara County Sheriff, Santa Barbara County Jail Booking
