September 24, 2024
Doug Hood/USA TODAY NETWORK
Three people have been arrested and charged with running a marijuana production facility out of their homes in Buena, Atlantic County, authorities said.
Three people were arrested and charged with running a marijuana production facility worth more than $1 million in a small town in South Jersey, authorities said.
Hanzi Chen, 47, Suxia Li, 41, and Deng Huan Hong, 50, allegedly converted their residences in the Buena borough into marijuana grow sites containing more than 4,000 plants, the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office said in a release.
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During a three-month investigation, New Jersey state police, along with Franklinville and Elk Township police departments, found the residential properties were converted into "sophisticated" grow sites with the necessary lighting, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, growth nutrients and water supply for growing marijuana.
The thousands of marijuana plants that were seized from the facilities had an estimated "multi-million-dollar retail value," according to the prosecutor's office.
Chen, Li and Hong were arrested last week in Buena and have been charged with first-degree possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute, and first-degree maintaining a narcotics production facility. They are being held in the Atlantic County Justice Facility pending their hearings, which are scheduled for Wednesday.
In New Jersey, cannabis has been legal for medical use since 2010 and was legalized for recreational use in 2021. The Buena properties that were converted into a marijuana production facility were not licensed medical or recreation cannabis businesses, authorities said.
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