The FBI believes that a years old bio lab in California and a newly-discovered biolab in Las Vegas are both tied to a CCP-linked Chinese fugitive currently awaiting a fraud trial.
By Jerry Dunleavy – JustTheNews.com
An illegal biolab in California searched by local, state, and federal authorities in 2023 and a separate hazardous lab inside a Las Vegas garage raided by the FBI this weekend are both tied to a CCP-linked Chinese national currently awaiting trial for fraud, false statements, and the adulteration of medical devices, according to court filings, police officials and members of Congress.
Jia Bei Zhu was arrested in 2023 on allegations he was running an illegal biological laboratory in Reedley, Calif. On Saturday, the FBI and local police raided a similar biolab in Vegas, arresting the home’s property manager, Ori Salomon (also spelled Solomon).
Police and lawmakers say the two labs are closely connected.
“An illegal bio lab was just raided in Vegas” and “it is directly linked to the secret Chinese lab found in California in 2023, which was oozing with E. Coli, HIV, and Malaria,” Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., tweeted on Tuesday.
“The lab just raided in Vegas was operated by the same LLC and same Chinese nationals as the one discovered in Reedley,” Kiley said in a House floor speech. “Now we know there was at least one other such lab, but we still don’t know how many others.”
The lawmaker described the biolabs in California and Vegas as “counterparts.”
A review by Just the News of federal court filings, real estate records, and police documents shows that the Vegas property featuring a garage filled with suspicious vials and biohazard equipment has been listed as being owned by Zhu, an LLC founded by him, and/or by his romantic partner and business associate who fled to China.
The Fresno County Department of Public Health, the California Department of Public Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention all conducted searches and inspections of the Reedley Lab location in 2023. Multiple local outlets in California reported this week that the FBI also executed a search warrant at the site of the since-closed California lab location on Saturday as well.
Congressional investigators allege that Zhu (also known by the aliases of Jesse Zhu, Qiang He, and David He) had significant connections to the Chinese Communist Party apparatus and allege he ran an illegal laboratory in California that housed approximately 20 types of infectious disease samples — including HIV, Tuberculosis, and the deadliest known form of Malaria. It also allegedly sold oft-counterfeit or Chinese-origin COVID-19 tests without a proper permit, the investigators said.
The Vegas property raided by police and federal agents over the weekend was located at 979 Sugar Springs Drive — and ownership records show it is run by David Destiny Discovery LLC, a company registered by Zhu and now in the name of his wife and business partner Zhaoyan Wang, who reportedly fled to China after police began investigating the father of her child in 2023.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal shared aerial photographs clearly showing the property raided by authorities was the 979 Sugar Springs Drive address, and footage released by Las Vegas police also makes it clear that it is that specific location. Photographs of the house on Zillow and Google Maps also make it clear it is the same address owned by Zhu through David Destiny Discovery and managed by Salomon.