By Shannon Fiecke, Staff Writer

Five people from Shakopee and Savage are among 18 charged today in federal court in connection with a Twin Cities indoor marijuana growing ring called “one of the largest drug operations of its kind in Minnesota” by Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek.

Shakopee men Timothy Quang Tran, 41, and Phuong The Cong, 28, and Savage residents Thai Van Ngo, 34; Doai Long Hoang, 40, and Tuan Ngoc Pham, 39, were each charged with conspiring to manufacture at least 1,000 marijuana plants, from February through June of this year.

With search warrants, drug officers on June 30 searched six residences and found active indoor marijuana cultivation or “grow” operations, including marijuana plants, lighting and other equipment.

More than 3,300 plants were seized, including 160 at a Shakopee home and 383 in Savage. The other residences were in Coon Rapids, Elk River, Lake St. Croix Beach and Ramsey.

In each residence, the power was stolen by tapping into the electrical panel before the meter.

Police also seized $225,000 from four metro homes, including approximately $68,000 in Shakopee, as well as three pounds of marijuana in Brooklyn Park.

Evidence of dismantled marijuana grows were discovered in Cottage Grove, St. Michael and St. Paul Park. In the garbage left at the curb of the St. Paul Park residence, police discovered marijuana leaves and stems, gloves with marijuana residue and other items commonly used in growing marijuana.

According to the affidavit, law enforcement watched various the locations and observed  the defendants traveling back and forth from the residences. On June 8, officers discovered nine and one-half pounds of harvested marijuana in the trunk of Phuong The Cong’s vehicle following a traffic stop.

If convicted, the defendants each face a potential maximum penalty of life in prison. All sentences are determined by a federal district court judge. 

This case is the result of investigation by a number of drug task forces —including the Southwest Metro Drug Task Force, which includes Shakopee — as well the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office.

“This collaborative enforcement operation directly attacks the disturbing trend of indoor marijuana growing operations surfacing in Minnesota,” said Gary Olenkiewicz, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA’s Chicago Field Division, which oversees the Minneapolis District Office, in a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office. 

In April, the Southwest Metro Drug Task Force agents seized 130 pounds of marijuana from a home in Savage after tracking a delivery to the parking lot of the Shakopee Wal-Mart.

 The wholesale value of those drugs was about $455,000 or a street value of $1 million, according to Mark Williams, commander of the Southwest Metro Drug Task Force.

In that case, Nao Vu Nguyen, 33, of Savage was charged with first-degree possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell and second-degree possession of a controlled substance.

The drugs found in that bust were a “Canadian, British Columbia high-quality bud (marijuana) that is part of an operation largely run by Asian gangs,” Williams said. “It is grown in Canada, smuggled in (to the United States)and then distributed here.”

Shannon Fiecke can be reached at (952) 345-6679 or sfiecke@swpub.com.