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Massive Yuba County Honey Oil Bust Drawing Renewed Attention To Drug

YUBA COUNTY (CBS13) — The suspected leader of a massive drug ring is behind bars following one of the largest honey oil busts in Northern California.

Yuba-Sutter drug agents raided labs in two neighboring towns—Rackerby and Brownsville. Tens of thousands of dollars in equipment and product were seized.

But it's also a sign of a growing trend.

Cmndr. Martin Horan of the Yuba-Sutter NET-5 drug task force showed the ovens, tubes, butane and marijuana found to create hash oil.

"You can either put it in a marijuana cigarette, it's been said that you can do the 'chasing the dragon' with it where you put it on tinfoil," he said.

The substance is produced by stripping the THC from marijuana by filtering it through butane and then cooking the butane off. It created a concentrated, gooey, highly effective THC drug, but the process to make it is highly dangerous—highly flammable butane and acetone are involved.

"Last year, we had 10 BHO labs here in Yuba and Sutter counties and of that we had three that caught fire," he said.

Explosions are happening across the area and the country, putting neighbors at risk.

"It's being done in kitchens; it's being done in bedrooms and in garages," he said. "We have ou younger generation who are constantly on the internet, find this on the Internet and say 'Gee, that doesn't look that difficult.'"

But it is dangerous, and in the case of the major bust in Yuba County, a potential catastrophe.

In total, seven people were arrested in the bust. A lot of guns, which were loaded, were also seized, and three children were taken into protective custody.

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