Cop's nose leads to record pot indictment

Three men accused of growing $10 million in marijuana in suburban New Jersey homes and of being members of a multinational drug-trafficking syndicate were indicted Wednesday on multiple narcotics charges.

Police in Middlesex County said they had stumbled on the grow operation by accident.

A patrol officer with a sensitive nose was driving through a subdivision in Monroe Township, Middlesex County, in February when he detected an odd smell. When he stopped to investigate, his nose led him to a rented $1 million home with smoke pouring from the chimney.

Inside, gardener Thu N. Nguyen, 45, allegedly was burning stems and other unusable parts of marijuana plants in the fireplace, police said.

In addition, thousands of dollars' worth of high-tech lights illuminated hundreds of carefully cultivated cannabis plants.

Investigators later discovered five more rented houses, all outfitted as clandestine nurseries. When the raids were announced in March, authorities called it the largest takedown of a grow operation in New Jersey history.

The operation was led by Tuan Ahn Dang, 36, said the state Attorney General's Office. In addition to 23 drug counts, Dang was charged with bribery on allegations he offered a state trooper $150,000 to let him go, a spokesman for the Attorney General's Office said.

Also charged were Ngoc H. Bui, 35, and Nguyen.

Experts on marijuana culture in the region said the bust had little or no impact on cannabis sales in the Garden State.

"It may be the largest operation they've uncovered, but busting it didn't have an impact on the underground market. Marijuana smokers in New Jersey didn't find the price go up, nor did they find it harder to obtain," said Chris Goldstein, a board member of the New Jersey Chapter of the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws.

"We could bust a $10 million operation every week and it would still have no impact on the underground market," Goldstein said. "It's just a drop in the bucket."

High-grade marijuana grown indoors often sells for $300 to $400 an ounce, Goldstein said.

The three defendants were being held at the Monmouth County jail, with bail set at $1 million for Dang and $750,000 each for Bui and Nguyen.

A fourth defendant, Tim Pham, 42, was indicted separately on a theft count for fraudulently obtaining $370,000 in mortgage loans to buy a house used to grow marijuana, authorities said.

Dang, Bui, and Pham are naturalized U.S. citizens. Nguyen is a naturalized Canadian citizen.

"With these indictments, we are moving forward with our prosecution of the leader and other individuals alleged to be responsible for the largest indoor marijuana-growing operation ever uncovered by law enforcement in New Jersey," Attorney General Paula T. Dow said. "Large-scale marijuana production of this type is a major illicit industry that puts illegal drugs into the hands of young people in New Jersey and generates secondary crimes that undermine public safety."