The FBI and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department are investigating an alleged illegal biological lab operation found in a northeast Las Vegas home on Saturday.
Authorities served a search warrant at a house near Washington Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard, and 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 also linked to a 2023 investigation into an alleged illegal biological laboratory in Reedley, California.
During a press conference on Monday, police confirmed the house was owned by Zhu.
Watch the full press conference here:
The second suspect that Metro Police named and arrested is 55-year-old Ori Solomon, the property manager of a house on Sugar Springs Drive and Temple View that was also 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 residence 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.
WATCH| Metro and FBI give a look inside the illicit biological lab located inside a garage in northeast home
On Monday morning, all samples were loaded onto an FBI aircraft, where they will be transported to the National Bioforensic Analysis Center in Maryland for testing.
As of now, it's unknown what exactly was in the samples found within the garage.
Investigators noted that there is no safety concern in the house or the neighborhood where the lab is located.
Solomon was booked into the Clark County Detention for a felony charge of improperly disposing of hazardous waste. Zhu remains in custody.
This story was originally published by the Scripps News Group station in Las Vegas.
