El Monte police raided a home at 14720 Horticultural Drive in Hacienda Heights at about 6 p.m. on Tuesday 1 August 2017 with a search warrant and found a marijuana oil extraction lab inside.[1] Five men in the home were arrested on suspicion of cultivation of a controlled substance.[1] The five were named as David Byung Kim, 38, Michael Myungkhun Choi, 31, Andrew Euyyong Kim, 26, Aaron Michael Corpuz, 28, and Francis Azle Ocampo, 28.[1] All five were released from custody on Wednesday after posting $75,000 bail each, pending their initial court appearances.[1]
Officers seized marijuana and concentrated marijuana known as honey oil or wax, which El Monte police valued at $1.8 million, including tins labeled White Walker OG with Game of Thrones characters.[1] The raided home was a 4,300-square-foot house valued at more than $1 million.[1] Police said the house contained numerous types of hazardous chemicals and equipment used in the production of concentrated cannabis.[1] Police said most of the contraband was packaged for the purposes of distribution.[1] Because of the dangerous chemicals, authorities evacuated the property while a regional narcotics lab team and the county hazardous material team dismantled the lab and stored the evidence.[1]
The investigation began Monday with the theft of a Lexus LS 460 from Long Lexus at 3530 Peck Road in El Monte.[1] A tracking device in the stolen car was pinging in the area of the 14700 block of Horticultural Drive in Hacienda Heights, leading detectives to identify 14720 Horticultural Drive as the suspected location.[1] A man at the home spoke to detectives through a security gate and denied them permission to search for the stolen Lexus, after which police surrounded the home and obtained a search warrant.[1] The stolen Lexus was not found at the home and was ultimately recovered unoccupied within the jurisdiction of the sheriff’s Industry Station.[1]
