Possible Las Vegas Bio Lab Is Linked to a Chinese Man Jailed in California

A suspected bio lab uncovered in a Las Vegas Airbnb rental is now linked to a similar 2023 incident in Reedley, California, police say.A housekeeper first alerted the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department about the possible lab last month. The woman, identified in court papers as Kelly, told authorities that she was hired by a property manager to clean various short-term rentals, including the home that contained the possible bio lab.Kelly told investigators the garage door on the home was normally locked but when it was unlocked during one of her cleanings last April, she and a handyman went into the garage after noticing a foul smell. She says, days later, both of them became “deathly ill” with breathing issues, fatigue, and muscle aches.She said they both believed they were sick because of entering the garage. Kelly told investigators that numerous other people who had been in the house at various times have also gotten sick, including a woman who ended up hospitalized with severe respiratory issues.It was unclear why the woman waited months to alert authorities about what was happening inside the house.FBI agents, firefighters, and Las Vegas police officers responded to the neighborhood over the weekend. A team in bio suits spent more than two days inside the home and garage collecting more than one thousand pieces of evidence. Investigators found refrigerators, a freezer, laboratory-type equipment, and numerous containers holding unknown liquid substances. The liquids were sent to FBI labs for testing. Results of those tests have not been disclosed.Investigators say they found out that the owner of the home was already in federal custody on charges related to a California biolab uncovered in 2023. That man has been identified as Jia Bei Zhu, a Chinese citizen. In that case, investigators reportedly discovered materials possibly associated with infectious diseases including hepatitis, COVID-19, HIV, malaria, and other potentially dangerous pathogens stored in a warehouse.Las Vegas authorities said it was unknown whether similar materials were stored at the Las Vegas home.The property manager of the Las Vegas home, Ori Solomon, was arrested on hazardous waste-related charges and he was transferred to federal custody on gun charges after a search of his Las Vegas home turned up loaded weapons he was not authorized to own.Mr. Zhu has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go on trial for the California case in April. His attorney, Anthony Capozzi, told CNN that his client was not aware of any lab because he has been in federal custody for three years.“He is not involved in any kind of a bio lab being conducted in a home in Las Vegas,” Mr. Capozzi said. “What went on in that residence we are unaware of.”Las Vegas TV station KTNV reported, however, that phone records reveal Mr. Zhu called Mr. Solomon from jail approximately 467 times over the past year. The news outlet also reported that Mr. Zhu was among a group of individuals who unsuccessfully attempted to license a medical laboratory in Las Vegas.Investigators believe materials from that lab may have been taken to other properties linked to Mr. Zhu, including the home that was searched this past weekend.

Possible Las Vegas Bio Lab Is Linked to a Chinese Man Jailed in California

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