2 Men Face Federal Charges In Lemon Grove Drug Lab Case

EAST SAN DIEGO COUNTY -- Two men who were allegedly running an illegal hash oil lab inside a Lemon Grove warehouse were charged by federal prosecutors on Friday.

Adam Ledesma and Jared Hoffman are charged with manufacturing around 166 kilograms of hash oil inside the building, which was raided by Drug Enforcement Administration agents on Thursday.

The hash oil, valued at more than $6.75 million, was seized along with ``sophisticated laboratory equipment'' valued at more than $2 million, according to the DEA.

In the charges filed Friday, DEA Special Agent James Gillis wrote that DEA agents regularly surveilled the building over the past month and regularly saw Ledesma and Hoffman entering the building.

Search warrants were served Thursday for the premises, which has no license for marijuana cultivation from either the state or San Diego County, according to the DEA.

Authorities said it was the sixth hash oil lab in San Diego County dismantled by federal authorities within the past three weeks. Explosions at two of those labs sent four people to hospitals with serious burns, the DEA said.

The agency said that the Lemon Grove lab was in particular danger of an explosion of fire due to high combustible gas readings at the premises, as well as a large amount of ethanol found at the lab.

City News Service contributed to this report.