Three people charged in Everett marijuana case

Published 11:35 pm Tuesday, October 20, 2009

EVERETT — The skunklike odor of growing marijuana was so strong that a police officer could smell the pot from his patrol car as he cruised through the Everett neighborhood.

Authorities later raided the house on Federal Avenue and discovered 757 marijuana plants, according to court papers. They also found more than $10,000 in cash.

Three people were charged Tuesday in connection with the indoor pot farm. Candy Siharath, 20, Mang Quang Dang, 26, and Len Van Tran, 45, all of Everett, allegedly told police they were paid between $2,000 and $4,000 a month to tend the operation.

The indoor farm was the second that police discovered this year in houses on Federal Avenue on south Rucker Hill. After police raided the first house they later discovered a dismantled farm a few houses away when neighbors reported a possible burglary.

Investigators believe the grows were connected, said Lt. Mark Richardson with the Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force.

They were part of the ongoing onslaught by sophisticated pot farmers setting up shop in the suburbs.

Snohomish County ranks second in the state for the number of indoor marijuana-growing operations, according to the Washington State Patrol. Washington is second only to California in the nation for pot production.

Organized criminals are behind the majority of indoor marijuana farms in the Pacific Northwest, police say. Some of the groups are connected to those responsible for the “B.C. Bud” trade in British Columbia, and many have ties to Southeast Asia.

Authorities believe tighter security at the border after the 2001 terrorist attacks motivated the organized criminals to move their operations into the States. They began buying and renting houses in the suburbs and turning the homes into large indoor pot farms.

An Everett officer first smelled fresh dope wafting from the Federal Avenue house in December. The odor seemed to be coming from a basement window, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Matthew Baldock wrote in court papers. Officers knocked on the front door and spoke with a woman. She appeared nervous and gave conflicting stories about where she was living, court papers said.

Task force detectives began investigating. They quickly discovered that the majority of the electrical power being supplied to the house was being stolen, Baldock wrote.

Police in February raided the house and found marijuana plants in various stages of growth in the basement and garage, court papers said. Detectives found fans, timers, metal shields and a ventilation system using the chimney in the basement, Baldock wrote.

Two men and a woman were home and told detectives they were paid to stay in the house and take care of the marijuana, documents said.

All three have been charged with manufacture of a controlled substance.