Local Meth Case Turns Into Counterintelligence Investigation
WASHINGTON, Oct. 25, 2006 — -- A local drug investigation by the Los Alamos, N.M., Police Department has turned into an FBI counterintelligence investigation and has top nuclear security officials in Washington worried about security at the nation's nuclear labs.
When local police in Los Alamos responded to a domestic disturbance at a trailer park on Oct. 17, they initially believed that they had stumbled across a small methamphetamine lab.
According to the search warrant in the case, when police responded to the incident, they found drug paraphernalia, several glass pipes and a small propane torch. Officers obtained a search warrant and arrested Justin Stone on a previous bench warrant. They found several pieces of computer hardware containing information they believed to be from Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory.
According to the police statement issued today, "During the course of the search, officers realized some of the items seized appeared to belong to the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The Los Alamos Laboratory Security Division was contacted for analysis and confirmation."
According to law enforcement sources and court records, Stone's girlfriend is a contract employee at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The FBI has dispatched a team of more than a dozen agents to determine how the files wound up in the trailer park.
During the search, according to documents obtained by ABC News, police recovered three computer memory sticks and a compact disc containing photographs. The computer devices are currently being analyzed by FBI technicians.
"There is no question this should have been taken far more seriously a long time ago by Los Alamos. The fact that this could still be happening is just absurd," said Danielle Brian, at the Project on Government Oversight, a watchdog group based in Washington.
Security at Los Alamos, home of the first atomic bomb, has been scrutinized in recent years after several security breaches:
Related Stories
ABC News Live