BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - The Kern County Sheriff's Office say they seized over 2,000 lbs of processed marijuana and shut down one of the largest honey oil labs they've encountered during a bust in Northwest Bakersfield.
KCSO says they raided a home in the 7000 block of Norris Road and an industrial building in the 21110 block of Snow Road in Northwest Bakersfield Tuesday. According to KCSO, they executed the warrants after a long term investigation into a large scale, commercial grade, marijuana concentrate chemical extraction laboratory also known as a honey oil extraction lab.
During the raids at the home and industrial building, investigators seized:
- 2,523 pounds of processed marijuana
- 287 pounds of marijuana concentrate or "honey oil"
- Two shotguns and two rifles
- $22,680 in currency
- Six commercial grade marijuana concentrate extraction vessels, three of which were active at the time of the raids
- 21 propane tanks containing 100 lbs of propane and 96 cans of butane
The Kern County Fire Department Hazmat Unit and Kern County Environmental Health were called out to the scene as a precaution. KCSO says the chemicals, butane and propane used to extract the "honey oil" from the marijuana, are unstable and could have caused an explosion or other dangerous situation.
32-year-old Justin Merrick and 38-year-old Troy Hines were arrested for the manufacturing of a controlled drug, conspiracy, and for the illegal sales of marijuana. Both were booked into the Kern County Jail for felony narcotics charges.
