Warrant served on Lost Coast Research after complaint about a suspected illegal Butane Hash Oil lab concern

On 3/09/17, at about 12:50 PM, detectives with the Eureka Police Department’s
Problem Oriented Policing Unit (POP), assisted by City of Eureka Code
Enforcement officials, special agents with the Humboldt County Drug Task Force,
and the Humboldt Bay Fire Department, served a search warrant at a cannabis-
related business near 4th/A Streets, Eureka.




The warrant was in response to
information EPD received concerning the presence of a suspected unpermitted
and illegal BHO (Butane Hash Oil) lab at the location.

In July 2016, the City of Eureka had approved a cannabis-related business
license for the company, Lost Coast Research LLC, under the ownership of CEO
David Bridge. Bridge’s company was permitted to conduct “Ag Testing,
Bioinformatics, and Cannabis Testing” at the premises. However, the license for
a cannabis testing lab did not allow the site to have any volatile extraction
equipment, butane in any volume, or to manufacture hash via that process.
Bridge was not present at the time the search warrant was initially executed.
Upon forcing entry into the locked business, investigators confirmed the
presence of a complete “closed-loop” BHO extraction system inside. The system
was pressurized, functional and set up to manufacture hash, but it was not
currently in operation. Marijuana “shake” (cannabis material) was located in the
system’s attached extraction tube. Additionally, 5 large garbage bags containing an estimated 100 pounds of cannabis shake were found nearby along with a 120 pound tank containing approximately 65 more pounds of butane.
An active grow room containing approximately 380 marijuana plants in various stages of growth was also located inside the building. While it appears the
business’ license allowed limited cultivation for testing purposes, the
modifications to the interior space was a violation of the Building Code. The City
had not received or approved a building permit application for the site.
While detectives were still processing the scene, Bridge arrived and was
subsequently interviewed about his company’s activities and the BHO extraction
system.
The BHO extraction system was dismantled and remove from the site along with
the butane tanks. Bridge was cited and released for a violation of Eureka
Municipal Code Section 92.10 (Regulation of the Sale, Purchase, and
Possession of Butane). Additional sanctions may follow for other code violations
that were also discovered. EPD will be forwarding a felony criminal case to the
Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office for review and possible prosecution of
Bridge for Health and Safety Code 11379.6(a) – Manufacture of a controlled substance by chemical extraction.