SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif.- A conversion lab for hash oil explodes inside a San Luis Obispo mobile home. The drug behind the operation is becoming a concern here on the Central Coast.
Dozens of butane canisters litter the front of what's left of a chard mobile home in San Luis Obispo. It's the most recent hash oil conversion lab operating on the Central Coast.
"This is dangerous, this could have been much more tragic than it was," said Commander Aaron Nix, San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office.
Sheriff's Deputies say 56-year-old Candice Garcia was manufacturing hashish oil, oil that comes from marijuana.
"With conversion what they do is they take the stems and the leaves which are otherwise unusable and they extract the oil because there is THC oil inside of them through a butane filtering process and they convert it into oil," explained Nix.
Everyday items like washers and dryers may have been used to process the drug. Sheriff's deputies collected 180 pounds of marijuana that was stored under the home. Neighbors nearby say they had no idea this mobile home was a drug house.
"In this neighborhood absolutely not. This is a nice friendly everybody knows everybody type of park," said Karen Cass, a neighbor.
This is not the first hash oil explosion on the Central Coast. In December, two fires one in Isla Vista, the other in Morro Bay were caused by hash oil.
"It is becoming increasingly common because it is a lucrative sideline. It is a way to take that part of the marijuana that wouldn't ordinarily be used re purpose it," said Nix.
Officials say typically the oil is put on a regular cigarette, or a marijuana cigarette or some use a vaporizer to consume it.
The suspect behind the operation, Candice Garcia, is behind bars and has been charged for running the lab and having marijuana over an ounce. Authorities also say no one was injured in the explosion.
