Law enforcement arrested two people and seized over 1,600 growing marijuana plants and 50 pounds of processed marijuana during a bust of an illegal manufacturing operation in the area of state Route 6 between Adna and Pe Ell on Wednesday.
The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, the Washington State Patrol and the state Department of Ecology executed the search warrant on a property in the 3700 block of state Route 6.
“This is the second search warrant conducted at this property in the last several years for a large-scale marijuana growing operation,” the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office stated in a news release, referencing a bust conducted at the property in February 2022 when law enforcement seized over 2,900 growing marijuana plants.
One subject, Huizhen Chen, 43, has since been convicted of one count of use of a building for drug purposes for his involvement in that 2022 grow operation. She was sentenced in May 2022 to two days in jail and 12 months on probation and was ordered to pay a $600 fine, according to court documents.
The property is owned by a Renton resident, who was not facing charges related to the grow operation as of Thursday afternoon.
At the time of the 2022 bust, “the state was unable to link (the property owner) with the growing operation,” according to court documents.
A detective with the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reportedly “received an email regarding a possible cannabis … grow operation” at the state Route 6 property on Jan. 22, 2024, according to court documents.
Soon after receiving that email on Jan. 22, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reportedly received a tip that a neighbor had groceries delivered to the wrong house, which led the neighbor to knock on the door to the residence that housed the marijuana growth operation.
The neighbor reported he walked next door to see if his delivery was there, knocked on the door, then opened the unlocked door when he received no answer, according to court documents.
When he opened the door, he reportedly “saw hundreds of 3- to 4-foot tall marijuana plants inside the garage,” according to court documents. He “eventually located the resident” and “was able to get his groceries which were mistakenly delivered to this address,” according to court documents.
The Washington State Patrol has since confirmed there are no licenses to grow or manufacture marijuana associated with the property.
Officers reportedly obtained permission to surveil the property and, while observing the property on March 19, a Lewis County Sheriff’s Office detective reportedly “observed an odor of marijana coming from (the) property,” according to court documents. The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office then obtained a search warrant, which was executed on March 27.
Law enforcement reportedly counted a total of 1,661 marijuana plants inside the residence, in addition to “a large amount of marijuana bud on the floor that was drying.”
The state Department of Ecology also seized “toxic growing chemicals and CO2 cylinders,” according to court documents.
“These marijuana grows are sophisticated operations involving a large network of a criminal enterprise,” Sheriff Rob Snaza said in a news release. “What is even more concerning is the large amount of carcinogenic chemicals being used in this particular operation. The suspects were burning some of these pesticides and chemicals inside the grow operation. These marijuana grows not only put our community at risk, but our investigators who are processing and dealing with those chemicals.
Two suspects, identified by the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office as 60-year-old Zhenhong Wu and 53-year-old Chen Yibiao, were arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail on Wednesday for their alleged involvement in the illegal grow operation.
They were each charged Thursday with one count each of manufacture of marijuana, possession of marijuana with intent to manufacture or deliver, and unlawful use of a building for drug purposes.
Bail is set at $10,000 each. Conditions of release include provisions that the defendants not leave the state of Washington until further notice. Arraignment is scheduled for April 11.
The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office asks anyone with information pertaining to the case to contact the sheriff’s office at 360-748-9286 or Lewis County Communications at 360-740-1105.
