A patrol officer with a sensitive nose was credited yesterday with uprooting what authorities called the biggest marijuana-growing operation in New Jersey history.

Police in Middlesex County last month raided six homes - several worth more than $1 million - and seized more than $10 million worth of cannabis growing under artificial light, authorities announced yesterday.

"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," state Attorney General Paula T. Dow said.

The bust might not have happened if Officer Thomas Lucasiewicz had suffered a head cold. The Monroe Township officer was on patrol Feb. 12 when he smelled burning marijuana.

At first, Lucasiewicz thought someone might be smoking a joint in a parked car, said Sgt. Steve Jones, a state police spokesman.

"But with his bloodhound senses," Jones said, he realized it was much stronger. "He followed his nose. Then he saw smoke rising from a chimney."

Overpowered by the scent, Lucasiewicz called his squad. When backup arrived, he knocked on the door of a single-story ranch house.

Officers were greeted by a surprised man, "the gardener, essentially, who was burning some of the unusable parts of the plants in the fireplace," Jones said.

Lucasiewicz arrested the man, Thu N. Nguyen, 44, and called in the state police.

Investigators found 1,064 plants in four cultivation areas in the home's basement and master bedroom. In the garage they found 50 pounds of packaged pot.

During the following week, state police raided five more rented homes in Millstone Township, Old Bridge, Manahawkin, and Manalapan that had been turned into "pot factories," Jones said.

Along with a vast array of cultivation equipment, police seized 3,370 growing plants, 115 pounds of harvested marijuana, and $65,000 cash from the homes.

"These were high-end homes in affluent neighborhoods," Jones said. "Several of them were worth in excess of $1 million and rented for $4,000 a month."

Illicit growers usually don't operate from their own homes because the houses are subject to forfeiture, Jones said.

The growers modified several of the homes, cutting 16-inch holes in floors and ceilings to accommodate vents and ductwork, he said.

Six people have been charged with running marijuana-cultivation facilities. Three remain at large and are believed to have fled the country, Jones said.

Nguyen, a Canadian citizen, remained at the Middlesex County Jail after failing to post $1 million bail.

Tuan A. Dang, 35, of Port Monmouth, and Ngoc H. Bui, 35, of Old Bridge, naturalized U.S. citizens who were arrested Feb. 18 in Millstone Township, were charged with maintaining a marijuana-growing facility and other counts. Each is being held on $1 million bail at the Monmouth County Jail.

Contact staff writer Sam Wood

at 215-854-2796 or samwood@phillynews.com.