Police find hash-oil lab at North Glendale home

Police discovered a potentially-explosive lab used to extract hash oil on Saturday inside the garage of a north Glendale home.

Detectives seized roughly 40 pounds of marijuana, approximately 181 cans of butane, three large tubes used for extraction and about 2 ounces of “butane honey oil” inside Andrew Hedenberg’s detached garage in the 800 block of North Glendale Avenue, police said.

“The potential for explosion is huge,” Glendale Police Sgt. Toby Darby said. “These things are blowing up all over the place.”

Detectives discovered the lab after police said he reported that his girlfriend allegedly assaulted him.

Hedenberg, 22, of Glendale was taken into custody on suspicion of manufacturing the “butane honey oil” — a highly-potent marijuana extract — as well as selling other potent drugs, including hallucinogenic mushrooms, LSD and methamphetamine, Darby said.

“Butane honey oil” is typically extracted by pouring butane, which is a highly-flammable solvent, into a tube of marijuana leaves.

The butane essentially strips hash oil from the plants. Then, the oil and butane are further processed to create a waxy substance known as “Butane honey oil,” which can be smoked or vaporized.

The street value for hash oil is $100 per gram, which can run about $45 for the same amount if purchased from a dispensary, he said.

Still, Darby said he is concerned that the growing demand for hash oil will compel some people to attempt to make it by simply watching YouTube videos, running the risk of an explosion.

Something as simple as turning on a light switch or static electricity can set off an explosion in a hash-oil lab, he said.

This wasn’t the first time someone has been discovered making hash oil in Glendale.

In 2011, the windows of an apartment on Jackson Street in Glendale were blown out after two teens attempted to make hash oil for personal use on a kitchen stove and it exploded, Darby said.

One of the teens reportedly attempted to discard the butane can into a trash chute.

Still, larger explosions linked to hash-oil labs have been reported countywide.

Two weeks ago, two men suffered burn injuries during an alleged hash-oil lab explosion in Commerce.

Inside the home lab, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies discovered butane cans, one of which they believed exploded.
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Follow Veronica Rocha on Google+ and on Twitter: @VeronicaRochaLA.

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