Sources: Home raided is Los Alamos lab employee's

From Kevin Bohn and Jeanne Meserve
CNN Washington Bureau

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The FBI is investigating whether information on a computer disk found in a drug raid of a New Mexico residence contains classified information from Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory, law enforcement officials said Wednesday.

In a written statement, the lab director confirmed there was "a potential breach of security by a former Los Alamos National Laboratory subcontractor employee."

Two law enforcement sources identified the subcontract employee as Jessica Quintana, 22.

The FBI executed a search warrant Friday at her home in a mobile home park in Los Alamos. A CNN reporter tried to reach Quintana by calling her home and visiting. No one answered the door.

The FBI's search followed an initial visit to Quintana's home by local police on October 17. Police answered a call concerning a domestic dispute, touching off a drug investigation when they discovered drugs and paraphernalia, said Los Alamos County Police Chief Wayne D. Torpy.

Officers arrested Justin Stone, 20, on an outstanding warrant for probation violation. He is being held at the county jail.

"During the course of the search, officers realized that some of the items seized appeared to belong to the Los Alamos National Laboratory," the statement said.

The lab consists of more than 300 buildings and occupies 77 square miles.

The FBI would not disclose what was found in Quintana's home. Spokesman Bill Elwell said the findings of the federal search warrant are sealed.

"It is going to take some time" to examine the evidence obtained, Elwell added.

There are no additional outstanding federal search warrants, and no federal arrests.

Los Alamos Lab Director Michael Anastasio said: "We are fully cooperating with the FBI on this matter, and we intend to do everything possible to guard against any criminal activity, particularly where a breach of security may be involved."

Anastasio explained that when he heard from local police what they found, he immediately involved the FBI.

"Security has always been a very serious matter at Los Alamos National Laboratory. But it's also a changing field," said Kevin Roark, a lab spokesman. "We're always adapting to new emerging threats."

There are a wide variety of security levels at the lab, he said. "Not everyone has access to everything. We are guided by the principles of need to know, for the most part."

During World War II, Los Alamos was the principal location of the Manhattan Project, whose scientists developed the first atomic bomb. Later, the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, as it was then known, developed the first hydrogen bomb.