Raid finds 4,000 pot plants

Published 11:31 pm Friday, February 22, 2008

LYNNWOOD — More than 4,000 marijuana plants were seized Thursday from houses in Snohomish and King counties with sophisticated indoor growing operations similar to those sprouting up around the region.

Snohomish County drug investigators found more than 1,100 plants in houses in Lynnwood and Everett. In a related case, about 3,200 plants were seized in two houses in King County.

Detectives believe the indoor pot farms were set up and tended by drug traffickers connected to Vietnamese criminal groups.

“These were professional jobs. We’re not talking 10 plants in a closest,” said Lynnwood police Sgt. Jim Nelson, a supervisor with the South Snohomish County Narcotics Task Force.

Advanced ventilation systems had been installed to filter out the strong odor of the marijuana. At one house, electricity was being stolen to avoid a suspiciously large power bill. The plants were well-tended and highly productive.

Three people were arrested in Lynnwood on Thursday after police raided four houses.

Police believe Son Bui, 40, and his girlfriend Tran Luong, 46, set up the operations in Lynnwood and Everett.

The third suspect, Cang Nguyen, 32, allegedly told police he was paid about $15,000 every three months to tend marijuana plants at a Lynnwood house, court records said. The group also is believed to be connected to two growing operations in King County, Nelson said.

Bui was ordered held on $310,000 bail Friday. Bail was set for $100,000 for Luong and Nguyen.

Marijuana plants were found in houses in the 6600 block of 192nd Place SW and 4900 block of 192nd Street SW, both in Lynnwood. Pot plants also were seized in a house in the 13600 block of Meridian Avenue S. in Everett. Police don’t believe anyone was living in the Everett house.

Nguyen reportedly told police he moved into the house on 192nd Place SW about a month ago.

Police arrested Bui and Luong at a house in the 4200 block of 184th Street SW, where detectives allegedly found marijuana plant clippings and growing equipment. There once may have been a grow operation at the house, according court records.

County property records show that houses are owned by four different people.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle has been asked to review the case for possible federal charges, spokeswoman Emily Langlie said. No decision was made Friday.

South Snohomish County Narcotics Task Force detectives began investigating the group several months ago after they received a tip about a possible indoor dope farm in Lynnwood. The investigation led to other houses around the city and one in Everett.

Agents with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration also joined the investigation, along with Seattle, Kent and Auburn police and the Valley Narcotics Enforcement Team from King County.

Investigators continue to probe into the group’s activities.

Nelson doesn’t believe the three people arrested in Lynnwood have ties to Canada.

Drug investigators in Snohomish County and elsewhere around Puget Sound have seen a spike marijuana-growing operations from people with ties to Vietnam and Canada.

They believe that tighter border controls since the Sept. 11 attacks have made it too risky to smuggle “B.C. Bud” into the U.S. Instead, groups with ties to Canada’s multibillion-dollar marijuana industry are buying houses here and setting up shop.

They generally buy four or five houses and hire “tenders” to take care of the crops. The houses are stuffed with hundreds of plants in various stages of growth, providing a constant crop. The windows are often covered, and elaborate systems are set up to mask the smell of growing pot.

The organized groups also are bringing violence, drug experts said.

Two people were shot to death in July in a south Everett house, where hundreds of pot plants were found. A second dope farm was found in a nearby house. The slain couple, Linda Nguyen, 20, and Kevin Meas, 23, were paid to tend the plants in one of the houses. Prosecutors say two Tacoma men shot the couple during an apparent robbery attempt.

Indoor operations can be an “enticing target for a burglary or robbery,” Nelson said. “The more product, the more enticing to rival groups.”

There’s no indication that those arrested in Thursday’s raids are linked to the drug ring discovered after the July killings.

Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.