Continued: Suburban pot ring is busted

Drug agents this week raided nine mostly suburban Twin Cities homes, arrested 18 people and seized more than 3,000 marijuana plants, breaking up what officials described as one of the largest indoor growing operations in state history.

It marked the latest local example of what authorities say is a growing national trend -- sophisticated suburban "grow houses" with ample room in their basements, attached garages for privacy, and neighbors who aren't quick to suspect criminal activity.

It also may be the first high-profile example locally of the involvement of family networks of Vietnamese immigrants in specialized indoor growing operations, using methods largely imported from British Columbia after tightened border security made importing the pot itself from Canada more difficult.

All 18 defendants, 13 of whom were arraigned Thursday in U.S. District Court in St. Paul, have Vietnamese or Vietnamese-American surnames. Spokesmen for the task force of law enforcement agencies that broke up the ring declined to say whether any of those arrested -- many of whom are related -- are Canadian or have family connections to Canada. The U.S. Justice Department said in 2007 that an increasing number of Asian immigrants arrested in such operations were from Canada or have family there.

Officials said the seized marijuana would have a street value of at least $6 million.

The defendants were charged with conspiracy to manufacture at least 1,000 marijuana plants following raids June 30 on nine metro homes, from Elk River in the north to Shakopee in the south, dismantling "one of the largest drug operations of its kind in Minnesota," according to Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek.

At each location authorities found plants, watering equipment and grow lights. In Coon Rapids, 923 plants were seized; Elk River, 576 plants; Lake St. Croix Beach, 630 plants; Ramsey, 637 plants; Savage, 383 plants, and Shakopee, 160 plants. Power for the lights was stolen in the homes by tapping into the homes' electric service cables upstream from the meters, authorities said. Doing so reduces the chance that the operation will be detected through a spike in the home's recorded power use.

In homes connected to the defendants in St. Paul Park, Cottage Grove and St. Michael, police found soil, discarded root balls, equipment for venting, watering and lighting, and other evidence of recently dismantled growing operations, documents said.

The bust of an indoor grow operation at a White Bear Lake home last year was called one of the largest pot-growing operations dismantled to that point in Ramsey County. Soua Vang pleaded guilty to having more than 900 marijuana plants in his home and received five years in prison. In 2007, Dung Anh Nguyen of Bloomington was charged with multiple felonies after more than 1,200 plants were seized from his upscale Apple Valley house.

In addition to marijuana seized in this week's bust, police seized $13,000 cash from the Coon Rapids home, $68,000 in Shakopee; $32,000 in Maple Grove and $112,000 from a Blaine home.

Drug agents watch then strike

According to an affidavit filed by a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Task Force officer, authorities conducted surveillance on the entire operation from February to June of this year, following participants as they made trips to and from the grow houses, rarely staying long. The Brooklyn Center house served as the meeting place and marijuana distribution point for the operation.

The grow houses when purchased ranged in assessed value from $250,000 to $450,000 and were owned by the growers. Most were bought in 2006, but one was bought last February, according to county assessors.

Representatives with the West Metro Drug Task Force conducted the raids along with the Sheriff's Office and the DEA, with support of several other agencies.

Those who appeared in court Thursday were Johnny Cuong Tran, 36, Brooklyn Center; Tuan Van Nguyen, 41, Maple Grove; Nhuan Van Nguyen, 58, Maple Grove; Kevin Dinh Phan, 43, Blaine; Tuan Ngoc Pham, 39, Savage; Kenny Thai Tran, 25, Brooklyn Center; Hoa Thai Tran, 22, Brooklyn Center; Dat Thai Tran, 27, Woodbury; Vinh Xuan Hoang, 32, Brooklyn Park; Phung Duc Hoang, 29, Brooklyn Park; Doai Long Hoang, 40, Savage; Minh Duong, 34, Brooklyn Park; Winston Nguyen, 32, Austin; Hao Thi Doan, 36, Austin; Annie Huyen Vu, 34, New Hope; Timothy Quang Tran, 41, Shakopee; Thai Van Ngo, 34, Savage; and Phuong The Cong, 28, Shakopee.

Moren would not comment on how long any of those charged had lived in the Twin Cities area, or where they may have lived before. According to public records, many have been in the Twin Cities area for at least 10 years.

Asian drug rings are a trend

According to a 2007 report by the U.S. Department of Justice, indoor drug cultivation by Asian drug-trafficking organizations is increasing because many are "well-organized, Canada-based groups that produce and distribute high potency marijuana," particularly in the western United States.

The report said that Asian grow rings are hard to infiltrate because of their status as "tight-knit, family-based groups" that often buy or rent homes to cultivate the marijuana, then quickly abandon the homes. The homes often have damage from mold, water and alterations to the electrical system.

Last week five Vietnamese immigrants, all related by blood or marriage, were handed down federal prison sentences ranging from 18 to 60 months in prison for their roles in a Seattle marijuana grow operation using each of their homes. Last fall police seized more than 2,000 marijuana plants and $16,000 in cash, the Seattle Times reported.

Abby Simons • 612 673 4921