Metro Police and the FBI collected over 1,000 samples from an east Las Vegas home searched over the weekend after law enforcement was told it contained potentially hazardous biological materials, officials said Monday.

Law enforcement executed a search warrant on Saturday and sent the samples to Maryland for testing. Christopher Delzotto, the Las Vegas FBI Special Agent in Charge, was unable to provide a timeline for when that testing will be complete.

“From the collection of the evidence to the testing of the samples, the process the FBI laboratory personnel engage in requires systemized, measured steps that cannot be rushed,” Delzotto said during a news conference.

Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill said remediation of the home on Sugar Springs Drive was completed early Monday morning and that there is no active danger to the public.

However, law enforcement took extensive precautions throughout the search due to the property’s connection to an earlier incident.

McMahill said the home is owned by a man involved in a 2023 investigation of an illegal biolab in Reedley, Calif. In that instance, the sheriff said investigators found materials “possibly associated” with infectious diseases such as hepatitis, COVID, HIV and malaria. 

The owner, Jia Bei Zhu, is already in federal custody. Law enforcement arrested 55-year-old Ori Solomon, who McMahill said is “believed to be the property manager,” over “disposing and discharging hazardous waste.”

Zhu was arrested in 2023 for allegedly “distributing misbranded medical devices” and lying to the United States Food and Drug Administration, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California.

“We’re not prepared to answer whether there’s any connections between that case and our case at this point, but I can promise you that is one of the areas that we are looking at,” McMahill said.

While executing the search warrant, law enforcement found multiple refrigerators, a freezer, “numerous bottles and jugs containing unknown liquid substances” and other “laboratory-type equipment” in the home’s garage, McMahill said.

The recovered items are “consistent” with what was found in the Reedley investigation, McMahill said.

The three people renting rooms in the Las Vegas home are currently “not involved in this investigation,” according to McMahill.

McMahill was later asked whether the agency is aware of the purpose of the biological material in the house.

“The truth is, we don’t know yet. We’re actually looking to see, as we move forward in this investigation, how to answer all of those questions. I certainly have them as well,” McMahill said. “Now, the tough part of the investigation moves forward.”

McMahill said that there were other locations police thought may have been associated with Solomon, but that “we’ve ruled all of those out as being connected to this particular investigation.”

Police believe Solomon was also the manager of a property on Temple View Drive in Sunrise Manor. The FBI searched the property, and McMahill emphasized that they have found “zero connection” between the addresses related to the investigation.

The FBI again searched the original biolab in Reedley on Sunday morning, according to the Fresno-area local Fox station.

The investigation played out in front of residents near the Sugar Springs Drive home, and McMahill thanked the surrounding neighborhood.

“They were very patient and cooperative over the weekend. I know there was a lot of fear and anxiety as this unfolded,” the sheriff said. “I want to reassure you that everything has been remediated and there’s no safety concern in the house or the neighborhood.”