Deputies from the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station’s Summer Violent Crime Enforcement Program (SVCEP) stopped a vehicle for routine traffic violations on Saturday, May 24. Upon contacting the driver, deputies could smell the odor of marijuana coming from inside the vehicle. The driver was detained pending a narcotics investigation, and the vehicle was searched. Inside the vehicle’s trunk, deputies found all the makings for a lab, used to extract hash oil (also known as honey oil) from marijuana. Seized were hundreds of cans of butane, laboratory style glassware, a scale, a portable stove, and an undisclosed amount of finished product.
Hash oil is the most potent form of cannabis because of its high THC content. The process of extracting the oil is extremely dangerous, and has been linked to a large number of explosions and house fires.
The suspect, a 20 year old Castaic resident, was booked at the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station for various narcotics related crimes, including possessing, manufacturing and transporting concentrated cannabis; all felonies. His name is not being released at this time due to an on-going investigation.
No further information is being released at this time.