Fake Los Angeles pizza shop turns out to be an illegal drug extraction lab, officers say

Anthony Robledo, USA TODAY
Updated ·2 min read
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Officers exposed a Los Angeles pizzeria last week for producing illegal THC instead of Italian cuisine.

A pizza shop next to a pet hospital in LA’s North Hollywood neighborhood turned out to be an illicit “super lab” cooking up illegal THC concentrates, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

The lab extracted THC honey oil, which can explode causing injuries, property damage and occasionally death, LAPD Commanding Officer Lillian L. Carranza said on Twitter sharing photos of the facility.

Photos of the lab shared by officers show what appears to be a functioning brick-and-mortar kitchen with pizza boxes labeled “Hot & Fresh Pizza To Go!” What doesn’t appear to be in any of the photos is pizza. Instead, the photos show batches of THC honey oil among boxes placed on the cooling racks.

LAPD did not clarify whether they have arrested any suspects who worked at the laboratory. USA TODAY has reached out to LAPD for comment.

“We’ve heard of secret ingredients, but this takes the pie! It seems like criminals are getting more creative by the day.” LAPD wrote on an Instagram post Friday. “From faux vending machines to pizza-making trickery, we are well aware of these sneaky things, keeping our city safe one clever bust at a time. This super ‘pizza’ lab won’t be making any more deliveries!”

The exposure follows LAPD announcing that one of the department's K-9s sniffed out illegal contents from a vending machine in a Gardena, Calif. warehouse, KTLA reported. On June 16, Ventura County Sheriff’s Office deputies served a search warrant where their police dog led them to discover 15 pounds of heroin, a kilogram of fentanyl, an assault rifle and thousands of dollars in cash.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hollywood pizza shop was drug "super lab" extracting THC oil: LAPD