Federal and local law enforcement officials in Las Vegas are investigating a possible illegal laboratory in a residential subdivision that they say may be linked to another investigation of an illegal lab that had materials related to infectious diseases in California.
In Las Vegas, Ori Solomon, 55, was charged this week with one count of illegal possession of a firearm and with one count of disposing and discharging hazardous waste, the police said.
Mr. Solomon was believed to be the property manager at the Las Vegas home, officials said. A lawyer for Mr. Solomon did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department first became aware of the possible lab after employees of Mr. Solomon reported becoming gravely ill after going into his garage, which contained vials with “reddish liquid,” according to a police report obtained by The Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Last month, the Las Vegas police received information that laboratory equipment and potentially hazardous materials were likely being kept at a home in northeast Las Vegas, the police said in a statement.
The police said Mr. Solomon was a main “agent and conspirator” with someone connected to the investigation into another illegal biological laboratory in Reedley, Calif.
Investigators linked the property owner to a 2023 illegal biological laboratory investigation in Reedley, Calif., where investigators found materials “possibly associated with infectious diseases like hepatitis, Covid-19, H.I.V., malaria and other potentially dangerous pathogens” in a warehouse, according to the police.
Jia Bei Zhu, a Chinese citizen, was arrested in October 2023 in connection with manufacturing and distributing misbranded medical devices and for making false statements to the Food and Drug Administration.
According to court documents, Mr. Zhu and others made, imported, sold and distributed hundreds of thousands of Covid-19 test kits, as well as tests for H.I.V., pregnancy and urine.
The Las Vegas police did not know if the same kinds of materials were at the Las Vegas home, but because of the possibility, the department’s counterterrorism and hazardous material units, along with the F.B.I. and regional fire agencies, undertook extensive preparations to search the home, the police said.
A SWAT team wearing protective equipment carried out the search on Jan. 31, and brought with them robots that tested air samples as well as monitoring drones
Anthony Capozzi, Zhu’s lawyer, told The Associated Press that his client “is not involved in any kind of a biolab being conducted in a home in Las Vegas.” Mr. Capozzi said Mr. Zhu has been in federal custody for three years.
A SWAT team found three people renting rooms inside the home. The police said they were not involved in the investigation and were safely removed.
Investigators focused on the garage and found “refrigerators, a freezer, laboratory-type equipment, and numerous containers holding unknown liquid substances,” the police said.
The items were consistent with what was found in the California investigation, Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said at a news conference on Jan. 31.
The police found a “significant volume of material, including various vials and storage containers with liquids of different colors and compositions,” the sheriff said.
Christopher Delzotto, the special agent in charge for the Las Vegas F.B.I. office, said at the news conference that officials found a biosafety hood, biosafety sticker, a centrifuge, “red-brown unknown liquids in gallon size containers” and “refrigerated vials with unknown liquids.”
He said more than 1,000 samples were taken at the scene. The materials were sent to an F.B.I. lab for further testing.
“Even an allegation of biohazard material,” Mr. Delzotto said, is “a serious allegation,” adding that the police were not aware that Mr. Solomon had any expertise in the biomedical field.
The police said the location was safe and that there was no known danger to neighbors. Sheriff McMahill said a motive remained unclear.
Remy Tumin is a reporter for The Times covering breaking news and other topics.
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