Legal Insurrection readers may recall a series of posts I did in the summer of 2023 about a China-connected biology laboratory in Reedley, California.
According to officials who responded to the discovery and remediated the site, the company was working with more than 20 infectious agents, ostensibly for the development of diagnostic kits. The pathogens included herpes, HIV, chlamydia, coronavirus, hepatitis, and even Ebola.
Eventually, the facility was traced back to a Chinese man, Jesse Zhu, who was paid millions of dollars by China and had links to that nation’s military.
By the fall of 2023, the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party completed its own investigation. One of the members of that committee slammed the FBI and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for their lack of interest in this case, saying the Select Committee’s final report, “reads like a movie script and a horror movie script, when you detail all of those things that were missed”.
Over 2 years later, with a new President and more robustly active administrators, the FBI, a HazMat Team, and SWAT swooped down on a Las Vegas home that appears connected with the Reedley lab.
A suspected biological laboratory raided by Metro police and the FBI may be connected to a similar incident in California, where officials found infectious agents such as HIV and malaria, the 8 News Now Investigators have learned.Police and the FBI searched the home on Saturday, Jan. 31, finding a “possible biological laboratory,” including “refrigerators with vials containing unknown liquids,” police said.Shortly before 6 a.m., a Metro SWAT team served a search warrant at the home on Sugar Springs Drive near Washington Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard to search for a possible “biological laboratory” inside the home. A second location was also searched, but no lab was located.An LLC tied to the home’s county records matches the name of a company that is part of an ongoing federal case in California involving a biological laboratory there, the 8 News Now Investigators first reported. In that case, a Chinese citizen, David He, faces federal charges for allegedly manufacturing and distributing misbranded medical devices, according to federal prosecutors.
In October 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the arrest of Jia Bei Zhu, a 62-year-old Chinese citizen, in connection with the Reedley lab. He is a man of many names: Jesse Zhu, Qiang He, and David He.
Zhu, who previously lived in Clovis, was arrested 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.David He, also known as Jia Bei Zhu, and his romantic and business partner, Zhaoyan Wang, are listed in property records as owners of the Sugar Springs residence, where hazardous materials teams began their investigation Saturday morning.
Reports indicate one suspect has been taken into custody, and the Joint Terrorism Task Force has taken over the investigation due to the nature of the materials found on-site.
Sheriff Kevin McMahill called the investigation “extremely complex” during a Saturday news conference, noting that one suspect was taken into custody. The sheriff assured residents this was an isolated incident with no threat to the public.”This has to be a slow and methodical process by design,” McMahill said. “We have to take these situations very seriously, and we take all necessary precautions to keep our personnel and community safe.”Law enforcement sources told ABC News that the investigation began as a code-violation call before the Joint Terrorism Task Force took over when authorities suspected illegal medical-type biological research materials might be stored at the property.Property records show an LLC tied to the Sugar Springs home matches the name of a company involved in an ongoing federal case in California. In that case, a Chinese citizen faces federal charges for allegedly manufacturing and distributing misbranded medical devices.
Investigators are currently searching 20 other locations to determine whether there might be any connection to this search.
The troubling extent of illegal and unsafe biological research linked to Chinese nationals underscores how essential it is for U.S. authorities to maintain close oversight of scientific and industrial operations, especially those involving foreign funding or opaque affiliations.
The Reedley and Las Vegas incidents serve as stark warnings of the risks posed by unmonitored research activities that cross legal, ethical, and biosecurity boundaries. Transparency, accountability, and firm enforcement are not optional, rather they are the first line of defense in protecting public health and national security.
Biosecurity cannot be left to chance; systematic monitoring of who is doing what, where, and with which pathogens is a basic requirement of national defense, not a bureaucratic luxury.
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