Explosion at San Rafael Condo Unit Leads to Discovery of Drug Lab

A Thursday explosion in San Rafael led police to the discovery of a cannabis oil drug lab in a condominium unit, police said.

Officers responded at 8:56 p.m. to the 100 block of Bahia Circle to a report of an explosion and located evidence at the scene indicating that the explosion was caused by a concentrated cannabis oil drug lab, police said.

A resident, 23-year-old Alex Watson, was taken into custody and was later admitted to the hospital for smoke inhalation and burns to his arms.

Police said a large quantity of butane had ignited and exploded in the kitchen area of the condominium unit while Watson was in the process of producing a controlled substance.

The explosion burned and singed portions of the dwelling and blew the screens off open windows, police said.

An adult woman and a 5-year-old child were present when the explosion occurred, but they were not injured.

The blast did not cause any damage to neighboring units, but one neighbor did report the force of the explosion knocked picture frames off her wall.

There were no other reported injuries in the incident.Police and firefighters immediately evacuated the building as a
precaution, and firefighters removed additional butane from the unit.

Residents were let back into the building about two hours later, police said.

The Marin County Major Crimes Task Force is assisting San Rafael police with the investigation.

Watson was not immediately booked into jail due to his prolonged medical treatment, but the case has been forwarded to the Marin County District Attorney’s Office for review, police said.

--Bay City News Service, photo via Shutterstock