Six people linked to an illegal cannabis operation were charged Friday as the result of an multi-agency investigation following a deadly honey oil lab explosion in 2023 and a fire in 2024, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said Friday.
The 2023 blast killed four people in Irwindale, and authorities said it was caused by an explosion of butane gas used in a honey oil extraction lab. The four deceased people all worked for the lab owned by Ted Chien of Temple City, according to the DA’s office.
Then last November, a fire broke out in a South El Monte lab, killing one person and injuring another.
The two labs were owned and operated by Chien and his partner, Han Quan Jiao of Rosemead, authorities said. And they allegedly continued to run illegal labs even after the deadly incidents.
Chien is facing the charges of murder, arson, manufacturing a controlled substance and maintaining a place for selling a controlled substance. If convicted, he faces a possible maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole or death.
As Jiao faces the same charges, he could face up to life in prison if convicted.
Four other employees of Chien and Jiao were also charged Friday.
“This case shows the deadly and disastrous results when illegal cannabis operations recklessly put greed over the safety of their employees and neighbors,” District Attorney Hochman said. “Cannabis may be legal in California, but this kind of high-risk, illegal activity is not.”
As part of “Operation Sugar Diamond,” nine locations, including a large-scale lab in La Verne, in LA County were served search warrants this week with 150 agents participating in the investigation.