Authorities reported finding several firearms and passports during a raid on a house in a residential neighborhood on Jan. 31.
A man arrested by Las Vegas police during the raid of an allegedly illegal biolab in Las Vegas on Jan. 31 was charged after authorities discovered he was a foreign national in possession of several weapons.
Federal prosecutors on Feb. 2 charged Ori Salomon, 55, with a felony gun crime.
Salomon made an initial appearance in court on Feb. 3. He also faces a state charge connected to the disposal of hazardous waste.
Salomon is in the United States on a non-immigrant visa and knowingly possessed six firearms, including rifles and handguns, which is illegal, federal court documents alleged.
The FBI’s Las Vegas field office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office did not return requests for information about Salomon’s citizenship.
The FBI and Las Vegas police raided a home on Sugar Springs Drive in northeast Las Vegas on Jan. 31 after finding evidence that it possibly contained an illegal setup connected to a similar biolab that was dismantled in California several years ago.
The Las Vegas home is owned by a Chinese national who was arrested in the California biolab case in 2023 on charges related to manufacturing illegal tests and substances.
More than 1,000 samples were taken from the Las Vegas home and sent for testing by the FBI.
Authorities said they are still unsure what might have been inside refrigerators and a freezer in the makeshift lab inside the garage, but that they feared it could contain HIV, malaria, or other potentially dangerous pathogens that were present at the California biolab, according to Sheriff Kevin McMahill.
Police found three other people inside the residence, who they said were renting rooms from Salomon. They were not involved in the investigation and were released, the sheriff said.
During the search of the house, officers found French and Israeli passports in Salomon’s name inside an office space.
The guns were also found in the office but were left at the house because the state search warrant didn’t authorize firearm seizures, according to the FBI statement.
