Los Altos Police Bust Illegal Butane Honey Oil Lab
LOS ALTOS (CBS SF) – Two people have been arrested on drug and weapons charges after police detectives and federal agents busted an illegal honey oil lab hidden inside a Los Altos home.
A task force consisting of detectives from the Mountain View and Los Altos police departments as well as agents from the RATFF (Regional Auto Theft Task Force), the FBI Safe Streets Task Force and the Mountain View Police Department's Cybercrime Unit staged a raid at 3:30 p.m. Thursday on the home located on the border between Los Altos and Mountain View.
Detectives had been tipped to the illegal activity and had obtained a search warrant.
As our officers arrived, they saw 44-year-old Lawrence Ovadia run from the backyard of the home into a creek. He was quickly detained.
During the subsequent search of the home, officers found 24-year-old Brandi Stroud hiding inside the garage.
While Stroud was being interviewed, detectives found two pounds of marijuana, about 100 empty cans of Butane, a butane honey oil extraction lab and a safe inside the garage that held about 4 ounces of methamphetamine, needles and a methamphetamine pipe.
A Ruger mini-14 assault rifle was also found near the safe.
Butane, which is a colorless, highly flammable gas, is extremely combustible and can cause major damage when it explodes.
Ovadia was arrested for possession of an assault rifle, felon in possession of a firearm, manufacturing a controlled substance, possessing methamphetamine for sale, felon in possession of ammunition and cultivation of marijuana.
He is being held at the Santa Clara County Jail.
Stroud was arrested for possessing methamphetamine for sale. She is being held at the Elmwood Correctional Facility.