LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The FBI and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department provided an update on the investigation into an alleged illegal biological lab found in a northeast Las Vegas home on Saturday.
Here’s what we know so far:
- Metro Police and the FBI served a search warrant at a house near Washington Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard on Saturday.
- Investigators recovered “evidence of possible biological material, including refrigerators with vials containing unknown liquids,” according to LVMPD Sheriff Kevin McMahill.
- Clark County records show the home is owned by David Destiny Discovery, LLC, registered to a Chinese national, Jia Bei Zhu, who is linked to an investigation into an alleged illegal biological laboratory in Reedley, California.
During a press conference on Monday, Metro confirmed the house was owned by the same individual, Jia Bei Zhu, connected to a prior investigation of the alleged illegal biological lab in Reedley, California, in 2023.
The second suspect that Metro Police named and arrested is 55-year-old Ori Solomon, the property manager of the house on Sugar Springs Drive and Temple View—another property that was searched by authorities.
According to Metro Police, three individuals were independently renting out rooms from the property owner and were safely removed from the house. They were not involved in the investigation.
Investigators say the lab was primarily located inside a locked garage within the house.
More than 1,000 samples were collected and stored safely at the Southern Nevada Health District laboratory.
“Initial search of the residence on Sugar Springs identified a bio-safety hood, a bio-safety sticker, a centrifuge, multiple refrigerators, red-brown unknown liquids in gallon-sized containers and refrigerated vials with unknown liquids,” said Christopher Delzotto, FBI Special Agent in Charge at the Las Vegas office.
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Several people became sick from an illegal bio lab running out of a Las Vegas home that also served as an Airbnb, according to documents the 8 News Now Investigators obtained Tuesday.
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An LLC tied to the home’s county records matches the name of a company that is part of an ongoing federal case in California involving a biological laboratory there, the 8 News Now Investigators first reported Sunday. In that case, a Chinese citizen with potential ties to the Chinese Communist Party, David He, faces federal charges for allegedly manufacturing and distributing misbranded medical devices at a warehouse in Reedley, California, according to federal prosecutors.
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During a news conference on Monday, Metro police and the FBI shared video from the garage, showing officers seizing vials of liquid and rummaging through refrigerators.
Another person inside the home reported the garage was always locked, documents said. A person also reported to investigators that the garage contained three refrigerators and that the room smelled “like a hospital – not like a clean hospital but more of a foul, stale, stagnant air smell.”
Several days after entering the garage, two people became “deathly ill,” and they “could not get out of bed,” documents said. A tipster also told police the house contained “many dead crickets” and several people had gotten sick.
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In the Reedley case, investigators located “pathogen-labeled containers” with labels such as “dengue fever,” “HIV,” and “malaria” along with 1,000 mice, according to a federal report.
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