by Alicia Cruz
The Black Urban Times
Bayonne has nothing on Middlesex County, New Jersey when it comes to marijuana cultivation. New Jersey lawmen say they uncovered the largest and by far, the savviest, marijuana cultivation operation in the history of New Jersey and they have police officer Thomas Lucasiewicz to thank for it.
{See Bayonne Drug Bust Below}
It was a regular day on the beat for officer Lucasiewicz. Well, that's how it started. As the officer strolled along his beat, he caught a whiff of burning marijuana in the air. The mighty aura was too strong for the officer to think it was just a couple of kids blowing a marijuana joint.
So he followed his nose... all the way to a home in an affluent Middlesex neighborhood where he noticed a thick stream of smoke spewing from the chimney of a single-story ranch style home.
Little did he know that his schnoz had just led him to uncover a rather large and sophisticated cannabis operation. The largest in the history of the State of New Jersey.
After Officer Lucasiewicz's backup arrived, he knocked on the door and found Thu Nguyen, 44, home.
Turns out, Nguyen was doing some heavy weeding.
He was burning the unusable parts of the cannabis plants by burning them in the homes fireplace. He never thought it would bring the law to his door.
Nguyen was placed under arrest and the officers began their search. After they realized the magnitude of their find, they called in the New Jersey State Police.
The search of Nguyen's home netted police 1,064 plants which had been growing under artificial lights in areas that were set up in the basement, a bedroom and the master bedroom. Officers also uncovered 50 pounds of packaged marijuana in the homes garage.
That search led to the raid of six additional homes - all rented - in Old Bridge, Manahawkin, Millstone Township and Manalapan where police found a multitude of indoor cultivation equipment. Police seized $65,000 in cash from four of the homes; 3,370 plants and 115 pounds of harvested marijuana.
Nguyen, a Canadian citizen, is being held at the Middlesex County jail in lieu of a $1 Million bond.
In all, six people have been arrested thus far, but police say more arrests are pending.
Those arrested during the raid were all of Vietnamese descent, but it is not known whether they were related. They have been charged with theft of services for bypassing utility meters and maintaining a marijuana-growing facility. Three people are at large and police believe they may have left the country.
Tuan A. Dang, 35, of Port Monmouth and Ngoc H. Bui, 35, a naturalized U.S. citizens were both arrested February 18 at the Millstone Township raid and were also charged with maintaining a marijuana-growing facility and other crimes. Both remain incarcerated at the Monmouth County jail in lieu of a $1 million bond.
Sgt. Steve Jones, a New Jersey state police spokesman, said "They (the homes) each had been turned into pot factories."
"These were not run-down houses," said Jones . "These were high-end homes in affluent neighborhoods. Several of them were worth in excess of $1 million and rented for $4,000 a month."
State Attorney General Paula Dow said, "While law enforcement in New Jersey has encountered high-tech indoor marijuana growing operations in the past, we have not seen anything to match the volume of production of this criminal enterprise."
Sgt. Jones said illicit growers usually don't operate out of their own homes because they know that if they are caught, and own the home where the drugs are found, the home is then subject to forfeiture by the Government.
The pot growers had even remodeled portions of the homes in order to accommodate vents and duct work they had installed in order to better harvest their cannabis. There were 16-inch holes cut into the floors and ceilings.
BAYONNE DRUG BUST IN JANUARY
In another historic pot-bust, Bayonne police on routine patrol in Constable Hook seized a monstrous load of marijuana in January.
Two police officers noticed a suspicious minivan with it's rear doors ajar and backed up to a tractor trailer with out-of-state license plates. Known to be an area privy to vehicle break-ins, the officers decided to investigate.
As they approached the truck parked at 65 New Hook Road, several people ran. Police then heard what sounded like drilling coming from inside the truck. When they looked inside, they found a man cloaked in a miner's helmet with a lamp holding what appeared to be marijuana in cellophane wrapping.
Gordon Peters,42
Gordon Peters refused to exit the trailer and threw the package to the ground. Police searched the rest of the truck they found $3,000 in cash and later found another man, Jason Peters, age 21, who was hiding in the truck's cab.
As the police searched the tractor trailer, they noticed a large wooden crate with several bundles of marijuana inside.
The tractor trailer held (31 bundles) 595 pounds of marijuana. It's street value was estimated at $2 Million.
Jason Peters, 21
Gordon Peters, 42, of Miramar, Florida was arrested along with his son, Jason Peters of Miami, Florida. They were charged with possessing over 25 pounds of marijuana within 500 feet of a public walkway. Bayonne Municipal Judge Cheryl Scott Cashman set bail for the father/son duo at $250,000 for each.
The historic bust was credited to officers Samuel Garcia and Domenico Colabraro.
Media Outlets must credit
The Black Urban Times
www.theblackurbantimes.com
twitter.com/thebutmsdotcom
facebook.com/theblackurbantimes
Bayonne has nothing on Middlesex County, New Jersey when it comes to marijuana cultivation. New Jersey lawmen say they uncovered the largest and by far, the savviest, marijuana cultivation operation in the history of New Jersey and they have police officer Thomas Lucasiewicz to thank for it.
{See Bayonne Drug Bust Below}
It was a regular day on the beat for officer Lucasiewicz. Well, that's how it started. As the officer strolled along his beat, he caught a whiff of burning marijuana in the air. The mighty aura was too strong for the officer to think it was just a couple of kids blowing a marijuana joint.
So he followed his nose... all the way to a home in an affluent Middlesex neighborhood where he noticed a thick stream of smoke spewing from the chimney of a single-story ranch style home.
Little did he know that his schnoz had just led him to uncover a rather large and sophisticated cannabis operation. The largest in the history of the State of New Jersey.
After Officer Lucasiewicz's backup arrived, he knocked on the door and found Thu Nguyen, 44, home.
Turns out, Nguyen was doing some heavy weeding.
He was burning the unusable parts of the cannabis plants by burning them in the homes fireplace. He never thought it would bring the law to his door.
Nguyen was placed under arrest and the officers began their search. After they realized the magnitude of their find, they called in the New Jersey State Police.
The search of Nguyen's home netted police 1,064 plants which had been growing under artificial lights in areas that were set up in the basement, a bedroom and the master bedroom. Officers also uncovered 50 pounds of packaged marijuana in the homes garage.
That search led to the raid of six additional homes - all rented - in Old Bridge, Manahawkin, Millstone Township and Manalapan where police found a multitude of indoor cultivation equipment. Police seized $65,000 in cash from four of the homes; 3,370 plants and 115 pounds of harvested marijuana.
Nguyen, a Canadian citizen, is being held at the Middlesex County jail in lieu of a $1 Million bond.
In all, six people have been arrested thus far, but police say more arrests are pending.
Those arrested during the raid were all of Vietnamese descent, but it is not known whether they were related. They have been charged with theft of services for bypassing utility meters and maintaining a marijuana-growing facility. Three people are at large and police believe they may have left the country.
Tuan A. Dang, 35, of Port Monmouth and Ngoc H. Bui, 35, a naturalized U.S. citizens were both arrested February 18 at the Millstone Township raid and were also charged with maintaining a marijuana-growing facility and other crimes. Both remain incarcerated at the Monmouth County jail in lieu of a $1 million bond.
Sgt. Steve Jones, a New Jersey state police spokesman, said "They (the homes) each had been turned into pot factories."
"These were not run-down houses," said Jones . "These were high-end homes in affluent neighborhoods. Several of them were worth in excess of $1 million and rented for $4,000 a month."
State Attorney General Paula Dow said, "While law enforcement in New Jersey has encountered high-tech indoor marijuana growing operations in the past, we have not seen anything to match the volume of production of this criminal enterprise."
Sgt. Jones said illicit growers usually don't operate out of their own homes because they know that if they are caught, and own the home where the drugs are found, the home is then subject to forfeiture by the Government.
The pot growers had even remodeled portions of the homes in order to accommodate vents and duct work they had installed in order to better harvest their cannabis. There were 16-inch holes cut into the floors and ceilings.
BAYONNE DRUG BUST IN JANUARY
In another historic pot-bust, Bayonne police on routine patrol in Constable Hook seized a monstrous load of marijuana in January.
Two police officers noticed a suspicious minivan with it's rear doors ajar and backed up to a tractor trailer with out-of-state license plates. Known to be an area privy to vehicle break-ins, the officers decided to investigate.
As they approached the truck parked at 65 New Hook Road, several people ran. Police then heard what sounded like drilling coming from inside the truck. When they looked inside, they found a man cloaked in a miner's helmet with a lamp holding what appeared to be marijuana in cellophane wrapping.
Gordon Peters,42Gordon Peters refused to exit the trailer and threw the package to the ground. Police searched the rest of the truck they found $3,000 in cash and later found another man, Jason Peters, age 21, who was hiding in the truck's cab.
As the police searched the tractor trailer, they noticed a large wooden crate with several bundles of marijuana inside.
The tractor trailer held (31 bundles) 595 pounds of marijuana. It's street value was estimated at $2 Million.
Jason Peters, 21Gordon Peters, 42, of Miramar, Florida was arrested along with his son, Jason Peters of Miami, Florida. They were charged with possessing over 25 pounds of marijuana within 500 feet of a public walkway. Bayonne Municipal Judge Cheryl Scott Cashman set bail for the father/son duo at $250,000 for each.
The historic bust was credited to officers Samuel Garcia and Domenico Colabraro.
Media Outlets must credit
The Black Urban Times
www.theblackurbantimes.com
twitter.com/thebutmsdotcom
facebook.com/theblackurbantimes
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