Detectives have charged a San Diego man with elderly abuse, among many other counts, after a hash oil laboratory was discovered in a home where an elderly woman lives. The woman had no idea the drug lab was operating out of her residence, according to detectives.
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said deputies served a search warrant at a home in the 900-block of North 4th Street in Unincorporated El Cajon Friday as part of an ongoing investigation into an elder abuse complaint.
Inside the home, deputies discovered the occupants were growing marijuana and had set up a clandestine butane hash oil extraction laboratory in the garage.
An 84-year-old woman was also living at the residence, but detectives said she had no idea this was occurring inside the home.
Deputies arrested one resident, Travis Faircloth, 30, on several charges in connection with the drug lab operation including partaking in a crime likely to cause harm or death to an elder.
He was also charged with manufacturing a controlled substance, possession of concentrated cannabis, possession of a narcotic and controlled substance and cultivation of marijuana. Faircloth was booked into San Diego Central Jail and is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday.
As of the hash oil lab, officials from the San Diego Narcotics Task Force and officials from the County Hazardous Materials Response Unit assisted in dismantling the operation. The investigation is ongoing and anyone with further information on this case should contact the sheriff’s department at (858) 565-5200.
Just last month, the manufacturing of hash oil caused an explosion inside an apartment in the North Park area. A woman became trapped on her balcony following the blaze.
In February, two people were hospitalized after an explosion at a hash oil lab inside an apartment in El Cajon.
In early January, an explosion in an East Village apartment building caused nearly $1 million in damage and was sparked by someone making hash oil.
Local
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, hash oil labs have become a dangerous trend in San Diego.
