‘Ebola,’ ‘COVID,’ ‘HIV’: Shocking find in secret California lab with foreign ties fuels fears of U.S. Bio-security gaps

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department uncovered an unauthorized biological operation on Jan. 31, 2026. The report was first made by a cleaner and a handyman who worked on a home on Sugar Springs Drive, where an odor so foul reportedly made them “deathly ill.” After investigations by the FBI, the unauthorized biolab was found to have ties to another such operation in California run by a Chinese national named Jia Bei Zhu.

The Las Vegas FBI raid revealed that the property was hosting 1,000 vials of unknown liquids (some reddish), lab equipment, test kit components, hazardous waste, and illegal firearms. This particular property was being run by 55-year-old Israeli national Ori Solomon.

Solomon was immediately arrested and charged with felony hazardous waste disposal and firearm possession by a prohibited person. His equipment matched Zhu’s equipment in Reedley, California. The property details also tied back to Zhu, who was arrested on similar charges back in 2022.

Zhu’s story was much more grim. He was raided in Dec. 2022 after his property also emitted the same odor that was hard to ignore. Authorities found approximately 1,000 lab mice (some transgenic), along with thousands of vials labeled with tags such as HIV, malaria (deadliest strain), COVID-19, dengue, and tuberculosis. This was at the height of COVID, and Zhu was reportedly importing faulty COVID and HIV test kits from China and labeling them “Made in USA.” According to the LA Times, Zhu was making up to $1.7 million from this scheme.

Zhu was also found to have ties to the Chinese government, and with that, the story generated all manner of conspiracies online. Furthermore, he entered the U.S. under aliases and had at least two additional identities, one of which was tied to a fugitive facing IP theft charges in Canada. He also received unexplained wire transfers totaling up to $1.3 million from China.

At this point, the nation is grappling with wartime paranoia and unrelated vaccine skepticism. The last thing needed in that mix is foreign nationals running unauthorized biolabs under aliases. The attention justifiably shifted to national biosecurity concerns.

The truth is that these cases expose dangerous gaps. These “labs” were operating undetected in warehouses for years and were only discovered because of the smell. That’s pure chance — something bad actors are likely already working to avoid as they read about this latest bust.

Zhu has PRC ties, a military-civil fusion background, fugitive status, and an unexplained Chinese funding stream. The fact that he could run such a scheme under the nose of authorities has raised concerns about vulnerability to espionage and infiltration.

But what really twists the knife is that even after Zhu was caught, even during the era of Trump’s mass deportation drives, he was still able to run a second site while in custody. Luckily, fears of bioweapons or active threats were ultimately found to be misguided. The evidence suggests this was a scam, cut and dry. But unregulated operations that threaten public health should not be this easy to carry out.