Chinese Biotech Firm Purchases 1,400 Florida Acres for Quarantine Facility

A Chinese-based biological research company purchased 1,400 acres for $5.5 million in July to build a primate quarantine and breeding facility, according to Levy County officials and records.

“JOINN Laboratories bought the property from L & T Cattle & Timber LLC, which is owned by Steven and Justin Lamb, longtime Citrus County businessmen. The Lambs purchased the 1,400-acre tract of land at 6870 SE County Road 326 in 2020 for $675,000, records show,” Citrus County Chronicle reports.

While current law prohibits the construction of such a facility on that property, JOINN Laboratories is filing a re-zoning request with the State of Florida.

From Citrus County Chronicle:

Pre-purchase, JOINN Laboratories, its attorney and the Realtor marketing the property made contact with the Levy County Planning and Zoning Department for a primate quarantine and breeding facility, said Stacey Hectus, the county’s planning and zoning director. Levy County permits research laboratories in its industrial zoning only, Hectus told the Chronicle. The parcel that JOINN Laboratories purchased has a Future Land Use and Zoning of Forestry/Rural Residential (F/RR).

“We had discussions with all of the above people explaining that this was not permitted in the zoning district they were in,” Hectus explained. “They asked to rezone the property but I stated that a request such as that would not be looked upon favorably by staff because of compatibility and spot-zoning.”

Spot-zoning, Hectus said, is zoning one parcel or parcels within a larger zoned area when the rezoning is usually at odds with a County’s Comprehensive Plan and current zoning restrictions. “But we examine each individual application on its own merits as they come in,” she said.

Because the parcel has a Future Land Use and Zoning of Forestry/Rural Residential, Hectus said, in this case a land use amendment and a rezoning would be required, and if the parcel is over 50 acres, that requires review by the state as part of the expedited state review of comprehensive plan amendments.

“Because it would most likely need to go to the state, we would require that to happen first, see what comments came from the state agencies and then, if the applicant received favorable review by the state, they could proceed with the rezoning,” she said, noting all of these are public hearings and would require notice such as signs posted on the property for the duration of the process, ads in the paper, letters to surrounding property owners within 300 feet of the parcel(s) in question.

The Citrus County Chronicle could not access the JOINN Laboratories CA Inc. website and a phone number listed for the parent company did not ring.

“According to JOINN Biologics website, JOINN Laboratories is the parent company and is the leading clinical and nonclinical CRO with facilities in China and U.S.,” the outlet noted.

However, a deeper look into JOINN Laboratories raises gigantic red flags.

The Gateway Pundit explained:

What is not widely known is JOINN Laboratories’ close connections to China’s People’s Liberation Army and what is arguably its biowarfare program.

The Founder of JOINN and Chair of the Board of Directors is Yuxia Feng, a military physician and graduate of the Academy of Military Medical Sciences in Beijing.

The Co-Founder of JOINN and the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors, Conglin Zuo, appears to have also worked at the Academy of Military Medical Sciences in its Institute of Biotechnology.

JOINN’s Chief of Pathology and Toxicology, Hemei Wang, came from the Institute Of Pharmacology And Toxicology, Academy Of Military Medical Sciences.

The most significant of JOINN’s connections to the People’s Liberation Army is Shusheng Geng, Chief Executive Officer of JOINN’s Biologics Company, who was also employed at the Institute of Pharmacology And Toxicology, Academy Of Military Medical Sciences.

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Shusheng Geng has been a research collaborator with high-level People’s Liberation Army scientists, who are considered key contributors to China’s biowarfare program, Cheng-Feng Qin, Yusen Zhou and Shibo Jiang.

The BL noted:

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told Fox News in June that it was a “huge problem” that Chinese companies were stepping in to purchase farmland in his state.

He said, “I think the problem is these companies have ties to the CCP [Chinese Communist Party], and it’s not always apparent on the face of whatever a company is doing.”

In addition to the Chinese Communist Party, China’s People’s Liberation Army is connected to these land purchases. 

Whatever these Chinese companies intend on doing with the land, it’s certainly not good for America.