Crime & Safety
Evacuations Ordered As Teams Dismantle Hash Oil Lab In Live Oak
Homes and businesses in the area were evacuated as a precaution.
LIVE OAK, CA — Homes and businesses in the Live Oak area were evacuated on Friday morning as the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office dismantled a butane hash oil lab in a warehouse, sheriff's officials said.
The sheriff's office served a search warrant on Thursday at the warehouse in the 1900 block of Commercial Way.
Deputies seized 5,400 pounds of cannabis, 5 pounds of cannabis concentrate, 114 pounds of hash oil, hundreds of counterfeit vape pens and an ice cream freezer truck filled with several thousand pounds of cannabis material, according to the sheriff's office.
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The sheriff's office returned Friday to dismantle the lab and hazardous electrical circuitry.
While removing the dangerous equipment, the sheriff's office ordered the evacuation of three businesses and eight to 10 homes, according to sheriff's spokesperson Ashley Keehn.
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Keehn said that the evacuations were expected to remain in place for several hours on Friday. The evacuated businesses include an animal feed store and a heating and air conditioning store.
The operator of the lab is facing criminal charges, though the sheriff's office had not yet taken the person into custody as of Friday morning, Keehn said.
—Bay City News