Illegal Reedley biolab connected to lab found at Las Vegas home, authorities say

LAS VEGAS (KFSN) -- A suspected illegal operation in Las Vegas appears linked to the illegal bio-lab discovered in Reedley more than three years ago.

Local and federal investigators in Nevada are actively working to determine what substances were found inside a home searched on Saturday morning. More than 1,000 pieces of evidence have already been collected following raids at several locations.

The investigation led to the arrest of Ori Solomon, the property manager for the Las Vegas home.

In a press conference on Monday, officials with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department confirmed the investigation is connected to the illegal Reedley lab first discovered in late 2022.

"As our investigation progressed, we determined that the home was owned by the same individual connected to a prior, illegal bio-lab investigation in Reedley, California that occurred in 2023," said LVMPD Sheriff Kevin McMahill.

That individual was David He, a Chinese National accused of operating the illegal lab in Reedley.

The FBI was seen searching the Reedley facility again on Sunday, after news broke of the Las Vegas property one day prior. That lab's initial search in 2023 revealed thousands of vials of biological material, including potential pathogens such as HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, COVID-19, and Ebola.

He has pled not guilty in that case, and as his trial approaches, his attorney says he believes his client had nothing to do with the Nevada operation.

"He never mentioned anything about Las Vegas properties or any other properties to me about storing any kind of materials, or anything of that nature," said He's attorney, Tony Capozzi.

Meanwhile, officials in Reedley say they were not surprised by the latest development in Las Vegas.

"Back then, we knew there were ties to Las Vegas," Reedley City Manager Nicole Zieba told Action News Monday.

Zieba worked with federal leaders during a Congressional investigation in 2023 under the Biden Administration. The report that came out of that investigation found that the CDC refused to test any of the samples found in Reedley, and that the FBI had closed its investigation early on the basis that it found no weapons of mass destruction on the property.

"There's a lot of frustration on my part because we were raising red flags about the loopholes in national security for biologicals way back in 2023 when this all occurred," said Zieba.

Now, some federal leaders are urging Congress to reintroduce the "Preventing Illegal Laboratories and Protecting Public Health Act of 2025," a bill they say would strengthen federal oversight of pathogens and high-containment laboratories to protect national security.