HOUSTON – The last of 24 defendants arrested in a massive marijuana grow house case in Harris, Fort Bend and Montgomery Counties have been ordered to prison. Yen Thi Do, 43, formerly of Boston, Mass., was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release for her role in the clandestine indoor marijuana grow organization.
Do pleaded guilty to conspiring to maintain a premises for the manufacture, distribution, possession or use of marijuana as did the other 23 defendants involved in the case. All of the defendants were born in Vietnam, most of whom were naturalized Canadian, Swedish or U.S. citizens, or permanent U.S. resident aliens. All foreign nationals are subject to deportation upon completing their prison terms.
The investigation focused on a domestic clandestine hydroponic marijuana cultivation and distribution organization in Harris, Montgomery and Fort Bend Counties. On Aug. 21, 2012, search warrants were executed at more than 60 residences identified during the course of the investigation – 43 marijuana grow houses and 17 residences – leading to the arrest of the 24 people and the seizure of approximately 14,000 marijuana plants, $121,000 in cash, numerous vehicles and hydroponic equipment.
Each of the “grow” houses had been leased from unsuspecting homeowners for use as a family residence. With one exception, none of the grow houses were actually occupied, but were used exclusively to grow marijuana. While the exterior and lawns of the leased houses were well maintained to avoid drawing the attention of the homeowners, neighbors or law enforcement, the interiors had been extensively modified to produce a “rapid growth” environment for the marijuana plants.
The modified environment permitted the harvesting of 120 – 150 marijuana plants or 12 – 15 pounds of high potency “bud” marijuana every two months once a “grow house” had begun operation. The organization generated hundreds of thousands of dollars each quarter with the sale of harvested high potency marijuana.
The three highest ranking members of the organization – Thu Loan Dinh, 36, Van Long Tran, 34, and Thang Van Doan, 36 – were sentenced to 108 months, 97 months and 78 months in prison respectively. The remaining 20 defendants, consisting of marijuana grow house tenders and maintenance men, received varying sentences up to 56 months in prison.
Arrest warrants remain outstanding for two other suspected leaders/managers – Johnny Ng, 52, and Hein Le, 44. Anyone having information regarding their whereabouts is asked to contact DEA Houston at (713) 693-3000 or their local DEA office.
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