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The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said Friday that six people related to illegal cannabis operations were charged Friday as a result of a multi-agency investigation following the fatal honey oil lab explosion in 2023 and the 2024 fire.
The 2023 explosion killed four people in Irwindale, and authorities said the cause was due to an explosion of butane gas used in the Honey Oil Extraction Lab. All four of the deceased people worked in a lab owned by Ted Chien in Temple City, according to the DA’s office.
Then, last November, a fire broke out in South El Monte’s lab, killing one person and wounding another.
NewsChopper4 was overhead when the Irwindale fire broke out in 2023.
Authorities say the two labs were owned and operated by Chien and his partner Han Quan Jiao of Rosemead. And they are said to have continued to run illegal labs, even after the fatal incident.
Chen is faced with accusations of murder, arson, manufacturing controlled substances and maintaining a place to sell controlled substances. If convicted, he faces the largest life sentence in prison without parole or the possibility of death.
Jiao faces the same charges, so if convicted he could be brought back to life in prison.
Credit: LA County District Attorney’s Office
Four other employees of Chien and Jiao were also charged on Friday.
“This case shows the fatal and disastrous consequences of illegal cannabis operations when they place reckless greed in the safety of employees and neighbors,” District Attorney Hochman said. “Marijuana may be legal in California, but this type of high-risk illegal activity is not the case.”
As part of “Operation Sugar Diamonds,” nine locations, including a large lab in LA Verne, were provided search warrants this week by a large lab in LA County, with 150 agents taking part in the investigation.
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