LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — The discovery of a “biological lab” in a Las Vegas neighborhood Saturday morning has prompted a federal investigation tied to a California lab discovered in 2022.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, alongside the FBI, served a warrant at an east valley home near Washington Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard. During a briefing, Sheriff Kevin McMahill said officers located a refrigerator “containing vials filled with unknown liquids.”
According to property records, the current resident of the home, identified as a Chinese national, was identified in the federal investigation of another lab operating out of Reedley, California. Records also confirm that both homes are owned by the same LLC.
On Sunday, the FBI executed a new search warrant at the lab in Reedley following the Las Vegas raid, a FOX station in Fresno reports.
Investigators say the lab was discovered by a code enforcement officer who discovered thousands of vials containing “biological substances” and mice. According to a congressional report from the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, the vials contained pathogens like HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, hepatitis, and potentially Ebola.
Additionally, investigators say the mice were genetically modified to simulate human immune systems. Workers helping local law enforcement became sick after tending to the infected mice.
The lab was located across from a residential area near a high school and a water supply, the report notes.
In 2023, a federal grand jury indicted both homeowners with manufacturing and distributing misbranded medical devices, as well as making false statements to the FDA. Additional charges of fraud and conspiracy were added in 2024.
According to the DOJ, the charges stemmed from an investigation into the homeowner’s business, which operated inside the same facility and fraudulently sold COVID-19 test kits. Investigators believe the fraud occurred between August 2020 through March 2023 and the couple made over $1.7 million from the scheme.
It remains unclear what was discovered in the vials inside the Las Vegas lab, though LVMPD and the FBI are expected to share more Monday afternoon.
An investigation into both labs and the link between them remains ongoing.
This is a developing story. Watch officials share new details live on FOX5 at 3 p.m.
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