By David Grant Long

A purported meth lab on Summit Ridge was raided and three people arrested by agents of the regional drug task force earlier this week after another local resident was caught with speed in Utah and agreed to work with police.

Steven Lee Garner, 45, has been charged with two felonies -- manufacturing and distributing a controlled substance -- for allegedly making methamphetamine from an over-the-counter medication and then trading some of the finished product to the informant for more raw materials. He was released on a $10,000 bond after being advised of the charges.

Jack Lee Randolph, 51, was arrested and placed on a felony hold for investigation of conspiring to manufacture methamphetamine as well as possessing speed after his property on Summit Ridge was searched by the task force Wednesday. He has since been released on a $20,000 bond.

Randolph’s daughter was also arrested for investigation of possessing methamphetamine after her residence on the same property was searched and suspected speed was found. She was released on a personal recognizance bond after being advised of a possible charge Thursday.

Agents seized alleged drug-making equipment and supplies from another small trailer on Randolph’s property, according to court documents, along with a multitude of firearms and a small amount of alleged drugs from his residence.

Randolph directed the agents to the drugs in his trailer, according to the affidavit of task force member Dennis Spruell, and "willingly admitted he smoked methamphetamine and marijuana and it was his."

The alleged operation came to light, according to the affidavit, after Dennis Wayne Johnson of Cortez was arrested in Utah with a "quantity of methamphetamine" and pseudoephedrine, a common decongestant that can be converted to meth through a relatively simple chemical procedure.

Johnson "stated he was willing to give up his supplier, who was manufacturing methamphetamine," Spruell stated in his request for a search warrant, and explained that he supplied the pseudoephedrine in return for the finished product.

Johnson then arranged a meeting with Garner during which he was equipped with a transmitting device and allegedly exchanged approximately 1,000 of the pills for a "teener" and an "eight-ball" of speed.

Agents also heard Garner talking about having two pounds of marijuana during the transaction, the affidavit said, but only small quantities of suspected speed and pot were found in his pickup when it was searched, along with a loaded rifle.

Twenty assorted rifles, handguns and shotguns, including a sawed-off double-barrel 12-gauge, were taken from Randolph’ residence, according to the warrant return, along with a variety of ammunition and $95 in cash.

Citing the "interests of justice," District Attorney Mike Green requested a dismissal of the daughter’s case, according to court records, but this motion was denied by Montezuma County Judge Christopher Leroi, who noted that the affidavit accompanying her warrantless arrest supported the charge and that Green had provided an insufficient explanation for granting the motion.