San Jose Police Pot Raid Seizes Over $4 Million In Weed
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) – A major drug bust by San Jose police early Wednesday morning uncovered a sophisticated pot grow operation and a marijuana crop worth millions.
Authorities said "Operation Greensweep" busted a grow business that was controlled from a house on Winsted Court, but that wasn't the only home where the plants were in full bloom.
A truck bed filled with mature marijuana plants cut down by San Jose police was just a fraction of what was seized in one of the city's biggest pot raids.
"We were able to recover approximately 1,872 plants in total," said Albert Morales with the San Jose Police Department.
A well-kept home on Dubanski Drive was one of seven marijuana grow houses targeted by the elite Metro Unit in simultaneous search warrant raids where officers literally knocked down the doors.
After a tip from a landlord last April, police began piecing together a network of grow houses, allegedly controlled by suspects who lived in a separate house on Winsted Court.
That home was also searched and two suspects -- San Jose residents Dean Minh Trinh, 39, and Kim Chai Le, 38 -- were arrested and questioned there.
Police said the homes all had sophisticated systems for security and cultivation. The growers allegedly hijacked power and water from neighbors and PG&E.
Police said the total street value of what they seized was four to five million dollars.
"We believe this is part of a larger operation, but it's going to require a lot of follow up as to who the owners of the properties were, said Morales. So, a very, very significant arrest and a very significant seizure."