The discovery of a secret biological laboratory in a suburban Las Vegas home that appears to be linked to a similar unlicensed facility in California has alarmed officials who warn that the United States may be dangerously unprepared to confront hidden bioterrorism threats.On January 31, police in Las Vegas raided a five-bedroom home in a quiet residential area after several people staying there fell “deadly ill,” according to the Daily Mail. Officers found multiple refrigerators, unknown liquids in bottles and jugs, and laboratory-style equipment inside a garage that had been converted into a makeshift biology lab. More than 1,000 samples have been sent to the National Center for Bioforensic Analysis for testing, where authorities continue to examine existing materials.The property’s manager, Uri Solomon, 55, was arrested after police said they also found a cache of weapons in the house. He was charged with discharging and discharging hazardous waste, and because of his visa status, he is a prohibited person from possessing firearms. His attorney says Solomon was not involved in the lab.The Las Vegas discovery has direct links to a much larger investigation in Reedley, California, where an illegal biological laboratory was uncovered in late 2022 and investigated in 2023.
Local officials found thousands of vials containing biological materials with labels including malaria, HIV, Covid-19 and Ebola, along with about 1,000 laboratory mice believed to have been used for testing.The Ridley facility was linked to Jia Baizhou, a Chinese national facing federal charges in connection with a California lab and an unrelated scheme to sell unapproved medical tests. Court documents revealed that Zhu received large, unexplained payments from Chinese banks while running the secret operations.
He entered the United States under an assumed name after fleeing Canada in 2015, where he was fined for stealing American intellectual property.Phone records indicate that Cho, who remains in custody, called the Las Vegas property about 400 times in the past year, although his lawyer says he was not aware of any illegal activity at that location.To date, there is no direct evidence that materials in either laboratory were used to develop biological weapons. The FBI said several materials recovered from the Las Vegas property appeared to be linked to the manufacturing of COVID and pregnancy testing kits as well as flu vaccines, but some samples could not be tested because they had decomposed. The FBI then ended its investigation.
