A 36-year-old man was arrested Wednesday after Citrus Heights police allege he was actively involved with an illegal butane hash oil laboratory inside a residence, located just two blocks away from Grand Oaks Elementary. Police consider the labs to be extremely dangerous, citing numerous injuries and deaths across the country.
In a news release Wednesday, police said special investigations officers had served a marijuana cultivation search warrant on the 7300 block of Little Oaks Way on April 28, which led to the discovery of a “sophisticated” extraction lab inside. Citing safety risks, officers evacuated the scene and requested assistance from the Sacramento County Hazardous Materials unit.
After the residence was deemed safe to re-enter, police said detectives seized 35 gallons of commercial butane, along with “a sophisticated butane hash oil system, 161 plants, and three ounces of hash oil.”
Local law enforcement also received assistance from the California Multi-Jurisdictional Methamphetamine Enforcement Team and the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, during a subsequent investigation. Investigators identified suspect Charles Jamison, 36, who was arrested in connection with the lab.
Police said Jamison was arrested for “manufacturing a controlled substance, cultivation of marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale, and maintaining a place for the unlawful purpose of selling, giving away or using controlled substances.”
“The increase in this type of illegal drug activity in our local communities is a real change for California policing, and we are fortunate no one got hurt by this reckless felon,” Citrus Heights Police Chief Ron Lawrence said in Wednesday’s news release. Police said the home-grown “hash oil” labs are growing at an alarming rate and note that California’s Proposition 64 does not allow for the chemical solvent extraction process used to create hash oil from marijuana plants.
In February, police announced the arrest of another man in connection with a hash oil lab on Sperry Drive. The lab had reportedly caused a small chemical explosion, which brought authorities to the location and led to the discovery of the lab.
