Deputies shut down alleged butane honey oil drug lab in Anaheim
Authorities on Thursday shut down a suspected drug lab in a residential neighborhood in Anaheim that allegedly used explosive butane gas to manufacture a concentrated form of cannabis.
After serving a search warrant around noon inside a house at 113 N. Tustin Ave., deputies found evidence of the illicit production of butane honey oil (BHO), a highly potent extract of marijuana, Orange County sheriff’s Sgt. Joses Walehwa said.
Deputies took two people into custody in connection with the alleged drug lab on suspicion of narcotics-related charges. Their names were not immediately released.
#OCSDPIO Today at approximately noon, deputies executed a narcotics-related search warrant in the 100 block of N. Tustin Ave in Anaheim. During the search, deputies located materials and chemicals consistent with a butane honey oil lab. Two suspects are in custody. pic.twitter.com/3KM5T1FaLh
— OC Sheriff, CA (@OCSheriff) October 17, 2019
BHO is produced by using flammable butane or propane gas as a solvent to extract and distill that plant’s active ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The unlicensed manufacture of the drug has been linked to multiple fires and explosions in Orange County and elsewhere in Southern California.
Details regarding the amount of finished BHO was recovered from the home searched Thursday was not immediately released. The building is in a residential area near the intersection of North Tustin Avenue and East Santa Ana Canyon Road, and surrounded by other houses.
No injuries were reported during the search.