Police Break Up Peninsula Marijuana Trafficking Ring
DALY CITY (KCBS) – Eight people were being held on $1 million bail each after San Mateo County drug agents busted up what they called a close-knit Asian drug trafficking ring.
KCBS' Holly Quan Reports:
Monday's raid on nine homes in San Francisco, Daly City and South San Francisco netted $450,000 in pot, six guns and $47,000 in cash. Agents say 55 pounds of marijuana and 1,400 plants were found in four grow sites that were the the target of a nine-month investigation.
The operation was dubbed "Mighty Mites" after agents observed infestations of spider mites and their webs on a significant number of the plants and in the grow rooms.
"Generally, out of a four-bedroom house you'll come upon between 500 and 800 plants in various stages of growth," said County Narcotics Task Force Commander Marc Alcantara. "The reason they do these indoor grows is because they can do three different grows per year, whereas outside you have maybe only one or two."
Daly City, Pacifica and South San Francisco have seen more indoor farms because the sagging real estate market means a lot of four and five bedroom homes are going cheap, according to investigators.
"The fog obscures the comings and goings of the individuals involved, and for the most part the electrical poles are to the rear of the house so if they were to illegally tap into the electricity, they could do so without detection," said Alcantara.
Those arrested were Steven Pham, 25, Tue Pham, 37, Marvin Pham, 27, and Brian Wong, 31, all of San Francisco; and Nam Nguyen, 29, Danny Nguyen, 22, Bong Nguyen, 51, and Donna Quach, 28, all of Daly City.
As of Tuesday, agents were still actively gathering and analyzing evidence in the ongoing investigation, and those arrested were still in custody pending arraignment.
The suspects were scheduled to be arraigned on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. at the San Mateo County Northern Superior Court.
Earlier this month, two San Bruno senior citizens were busted for growing more than 800 pot plants in their home.
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