Middlesex, N.J. (WPIX)—
It is being called the biggest pot bust in New Jersey's history: multiple agencies in three counties collaborated to seize more than $10 million worth of marijuana, Attorney General Paula Dow announced Wednesday.It took ten search warrants and five days of work, but authorities managed to confiscate 115 lbs. of marijuana, 3,370 live marijuana plants, $65,000 in cash, and assorted growing equipment. Authorities arrested two men and a woman who were allegedly involved in the operation.
"While law enforcement in New Jersey has encountered high-tech indoor marijuana growing operations in the past, we have not seen anything to match the volume of production of this criminal enterprise," said Attorney General Paula T. Dow. "These defendants might be called tenant farmers in one sense, because of their use of rental properties, but they certainly were not struggling to pay the rent with their harvest. They were allegedly tending a crop worth $10 million."
The extensive indoor grow operation was literally sniffed out by authorities when Monroe Police Officer Thomas Lucasiewicz smelled burning marijuana wafting from the chimney of the 558 Spotswood-Englishtown Road in Monroe Township, NJ. Officer Lucasiewicz knocked on the door and arrested Thu N. Nguyen, a 44-year-old Canadian citizen, after finding "overpowering evidence" that he was burning the unusable marijuana stalks in the fireplace of the home.
Authorities seized 50 lbs. of packaged marijuana, 1,064 marijuana plants and $4,000 in cash. Detectives also discovered that the house was equipped with a sophisticated surveillance system, including multiple cameras rigged outside of the house.
Nguyen was charged in Monroe Township with maintaining a marijuana cultivation facility, possession with intent to distribute, and theft (for stealing the electricity needed to power the grow lights).
Authorities also charged Tuan A. Dang, 35, and Ngoc H. Bui, 35, with cultivation marijuana, possession with intent to distribute, and theft, after finding them inside the residence. All three are being held in the Monmouth County Jail on $1 million bail.
Police investigation of Bui's house after the arrest turned up another 640 plants and 15 lb.s of packaged marijuana at 47 Westley Rd. In Old Bridge Township, and another 464 plants were seized from a residence at 535 Beach Ave. in Manahawkin.
