FBI Raids Las Vegas Home Linked to Illegal Biological Lab
The FBI conducted a raid on a Las Vegas residence over the weekend, believed to be a potential biological lab, owned by a Chinese-affiliated company connected to an illegal lab in California, as reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
During the operation, local law enforcement, assisted by the FBI, discovered a refrigerator containing unidentified vials within the home. The city’s Metro SWAT team executed a warrant to search what was referred to as a “biology lab,” according to several local news outlets. The property is tied to Jia Bei Zhu, a 64-year-old Chinese national presently in federal custody, linked to an ongoing investigation into a biolab operating outside of California.
Records show that Zhu and his partner Zhao Yanwang are the owners of the mansion located in Sugar Springs. It has been indicated that Zhu’s limited liability company (LLC) may also own a warehouse in Las Vegas.
Zhu was taken into custody in October 2023 for allegedly manufacturing and distributing mislabeled medical devices at an illegal biolab in Reedley, California. Reports suggest that some items, like pregnancy tests, were being sent from China to the Las Vegas address.
In California, authorities reported finding a thousand mice being kept in overcrowded and poor conditions at the biolab. They also discovered containers marked for pathogens with names like “dengue fever,” “HIV,” and “malaria.” Zhu operated the illegal facility under the name Prestige Biotech Inc. (PBI) and its successor Universal Meditech Inc. (UMI), allegedly distributing a wide range of test kits, court documents indicate.
There were numerous vials containing blood, tissue, and other bodily fluids at Reedley BioLabs, which raised concerns regarding potential pathogens, according to a federal report connected to the Chinese Communist Party’s Special Committee (CCP). Some vials bore labels in English and Mandarin, identifying pathogens.
Officials suspect Zhu and others engaged in the manufacturing and distribution of testing kits between December 2020 and March 2023, with charges filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. Zhu has reportedly denied knowing anything about the operations of distribution and made misleading statements concerning his employment with UMI and PBI.
