A multi-agency investigation that started with the 2023 explosion of a honey oil lab in Irwindale where four men died led to the arrest Wednesday of six people and the seizure of about 27 tons of illegal cannabis products with an estimated street value of over $100 million.
District Attorney Nathan Hochman called it one of the biggest illegal cannabis operations in Los Angeles County during a Friday news conference at the Hall of Justice in Los Angeles.
The investigation, dubbed Operation Sugar Diamond, involved federal, state and local agencies.
On Wednesday, authorities served nine search warrants at various locations including one of the suspects’ homes, two South El Monte warehouses, a South El Monte office, a large drug lab in La Verne and a Gardena distribution center, Hochman said. No addresses were released during the news conference.
The search in La Verne was in a residential neighborhood in the unincorporated county area, said Michael Burke, director of the Los Angeles Interagency Metropolitan Police Apprehension Crime Task Force, or LA IMPACT, a collection of law enforcement agencies with a focus on breaking up drug-trafficking groups.
Images of what was found during the searches ranged from mason jars full of sugar diamond crystals with over 90% THC concentration to cannabis products with colorful labels and numerous trash bags of marijuana after the extraction process was done.
Ted Chien, 53, of Temple City was charged Friday with five counts of murder with the special circumstance allegation of multiple murders. He also faces two felony counts of arson causing great bodily injury, eight felony counts of manufacturing a controlled substance and three felony counts of maintaining a place for selling or using a controlled substance, the DA’s Office said.
A conviction could net Chien life in prison without the possibility of parole, or a death sentence.
His partner, Han Quan Jiao, 55, of Rosemead was charged with one count each of murder and arson causing great bodily injury, eight counts of manufacturing a controlled substance and three counts of maintaining a place for selling or using a controlled substance.
Jiao faces life in prison if convicted as charged.
The other suspects, 36-year-old Xiaolong Deng, 61-year-old Chengyan Xu, 30-year-old Christopher Reyes and 35-year-old Frank Herrera each face one count each of conspiracy to manufacture a controlled substance.
Xu was charged with two counts of manufacturing, compounding or producing a controlled substance, while the other three were charged with one count of the same offense.
Deng, Reyes and Herrera each face up to seven years in prison if convicted, while Xu faces up to eight years and eight months.
Deng, Xu, Reyes and Herrera also worked for Chien and Jiao and are accused of producing concentrated cannabis. Herrera also allegedly transported the product within Los Angeles County, according to the criminal complaint.
Arraignment was scheduled Friday at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center.
Officials think the group’s products were sent to illegal cannabis shops that pop up in Los Angeles County, Hochman said. However, where they got the marijuana and how far they sold their products are still unknown.
The investigation is ongoing.
One of the drug labs Chien and Jiao allegedly ran was housed in a warehouse at 1404 Arrow Highway in Irwindale.
On Oct. 9, 2023, police received a call at 10:35 a.m. about an explosion, a fire and a man on fire seen running out of the building.
The badly burned man, 47-year-old Yi Luo of Baldwin Park, told a volunteer at the nearby Shepherd’s Pantry that there were three other people in the burning building. The volunteer passed the information to an officer.
Firefighters put out the warehouse fire. Inside the building, they found the bodies of Guangqi Fu, 35, of Chino then Xin Chen, 59, of Rosemead as well as a large butane honey oil lab.
Luo died that night at Los Angeles General Medical Center.
Cadaver dogs discovered the body of Qizhuo Liang, 35, of Monterey Park underneath the rubble the morning of Oct. 10, 2023, according to the medical examiner’s report.
The four worked at the alleged drug lab.
Some of the cars seen parked near the warehouse in Irwindale were seen at a Wilmington honey oil lab in early 2023, Burke said.
“These two people (Chen and Jiao) didn’t learn from that experience that murdered four individuals,” Hochman said, adding the suspects continued operations.
On Nov. 18, 2024, fire ripped through a drug lab in South El Monte that Chien and Jiao allegedly operated, Hochman said.
One of the employees, Bordin “Tony” Sikarin, 58, of Buena Park, was injured. He died at a hospital from thermal burns December 18, 2024, according to the medical examiner’s office.
The illegal cannabis industry generates about $2 billion in Los Angeles County and involves hundreds of shops, Hochman said. He issued a warning.
“We will arrest you, we will prosecute you and we will punish you,” Hochman said.