Illegal biolab in U.S. city raided by FBI; malaria, TB, C-19, ebola & more pathogens discovered
In this DML Report…
The FBI, along with Las Vegas police and hazardous materials teams, raided a home in northeast Las Vegas on February 1, in an operation possibly connected to a California biolab case.
The residence, located in the Sugar Springs community, is owned by an LLC linked to the biolab operation and listed under the names David He, also known as Jia Bei Zhu, and Zhaoyan Wang, according to property records. Zhu, a 62-year-old Chinese citizen with aliases including Jesse Zhu, Qiang He, and David He, previously resided in Clovis, California. Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill stated that the suspect's name would not be released, noting there was no public threat and that the incident was isolated.
In October 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the arrests of Jia Bei Zhu and Qiang He on charges of manufacturing and distributing misbranded medical devices in violation of the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as well as making false statements to the Food and Drug Administration. The charges involve companies Universal Meditech Incorporated and Prestige Biotech Incorporated, based in Fresno and Reedley, California. Between December 2020 and March 2023, Zhu and Wang allegedly manufactured, imported, sold, and distributed hundreds of thousands of diagnostic test kits, including those for COVID-19, HIV, pregnancy, clinical urinalysis, and other conditions, to markets in the United States and China.
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The investigation traces back to December 18, 2022, when Reedley Code Enforcement received a complaint about non-permitted plumbing at Prestige Biotech’s warehouse, leading to an inspection the next day that revealed in-vitro diagnostic test kits, manufacturing equipment, shipping supplies, and employees packaging kits. Zhu provided false statements during the probe, claiming his name was Qiang “David” He, denying knowledge of the companies' activities, and misrepresenting his roles at Universal Meditech and Prestige Biotech.
A House Select Committee report detailed findings at the Reedley site, including blood, tissue, and bodily fluid samples; thousands of unlabeled vials with suspected biological materials; and approximately 1,000 transgenic mice in overcrowded conditions, intended to simulate the human immune system and carry COVID-19. Containers labeled with pathogens such as dengue fever, HIV, SARS-CoV-2, syphilis, and malaria were also observed.