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LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – Authorities in Las Vegas have uncovered what appears to be a biological laboratory in a residential area, potentially linked to an earlier discovery in California involving pathogens like HIV and malaria, according to investigations by 8 News Now at Nexstar’s KLAS.
Police, alongside the FBI, conducted a search of the Las Vegas residence, uncovering what they describe as a “possible biological laboratory.” Inside the home, they discovered refrigerators containing vials filled with unidentifiable liquids. The search warrant was executed by a Metro SWAT team at around 6 a.m. at the property on Sugar Springs Drive to investigate the presence of a suspected “biological laboratory.”
Authorities also searched a second location, but did not find any lab at that site.
Records show that an LLC associated with the Sugar Springs property shares a name with a company entangled in a federal case in California concerning a biological lab. In this case, federal prosecutors have charged a Chinese national with the alleged production and distribution of misbranded medical devices.
This investigation led local and federal agencies to raid a suspected biological lab in Reedley, California, located in Fresno County.
“Inside the Reedley Biolab, officials observed blood, tissue and other bodily fluid samples and serums; and thousands of vials of unlabeled fluids and suspected biological material,’ raising the concern that they contained pathogens,” according to a federal report from the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. Some of these vials were labeled with the names of pathogens in English or Mandarin.”
Investigators also located “pathogen-labeled containers” with labels such as “dengue fever,” “HIV,” and “malaria,” the report said, along with 1,000 mice.
The man connected to the Reedley biolab remained in federal custody ahead of a spring trial. His name is listed as the registered agent of the Las Vegas-based company that owns the Sugar Springs Drive property. The LLC purchased the home in 2022. In December of that year, the illegal operation in Reedley was discovered by local officials, Nexstar’s KSEE/KGPE reported.
Two other people connected to the LLC are tied to a Spring Valley business address. The company appears to have a warehouse location in Las Vegas as well, according to documents.
In court documents, the man previously told a judge he no longer runs the companies, though he remained listed in Nevada business records as of Sunday. There was no indication as of Sunday that he was charged with a crime connected to Saturday’s raid.
During a joint news conference with the FBI on Saturday, Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill noted one person was in custody connected to the raid; however, no case appeared filed in state or federal court as of Sunday.
The EPA was called in to clean up the chemicals at the illegal Reedley lab in 2024.
Sheriff Kevin McMahill nor the FBI elaborated on what substances or other materials police seized from the Las Vegas home. The 8 News Now Investigators have learned samples from the lab will be shipped to the FBI for testing.
McMahill added that this was an isolated incident and there was no threat to the public.
Neighbors told 8 News Now that the home was under surveillance before the raid.
Last year, three California congressmen sponsored a bill in the House aimed at preventing illegal and unregulated laboratories like the one found in Reedley. It was referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce in October, records show.
Nexstar’s Addy Bink contributed to this report.