By Shawn Hogendorf, Staff Writer 

Following three “significant” drug busts in Savage, Prior Lake and Shakopee in the last few months, authorities are hoping the availability of marijuana in the area has been drastically reduced.

The latest wave of drug busts conducted by various drug task forces on June 30, uncovered six marijuana growing operations across the metro, including one in Savage and another in Shakopee, according to Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) affidavits.

The raids resulted in 18 people across the Twin Cities area being charged with conspiracy to manufacture at least 1,000 marijuana plants, according to the United States Attorney’s Office.

Among the people federally charged were Savage residents Tuan Ngoc Pham, 39, Doai Long Hoang, 40, and Thai Van Ngo, 34. Timothy Quang Tran, 41, and Phuong The Kong, 28, both of Shakopee, were also among the 18 people charged in association with the bust.

If convicted, the men face a maximum of life in prison.

The bust

During the June 30 drug busts, authorities seized more than 3,300 marijuana plants that were valued at more than $6 million, according to the criminal complaint. Authorities also seized items used to manufacture marijuana such as grow lights and watering equipment in each of the homes that were being used as “indoor gardens,” according to the criminal complaint.

This bust came after 130 pounds of marijuana was seized by the Southwest Metro Drug Task Force at a home in the 13900 block of Shoreside Circle in Savage on April 7; and 60 pounds of marijuana was seized by the Prior Lake Police Department at a home in the 4800 block of Bluff Heights Trail in Prior Lake on April 13.

According to authorities, the three drug busts were not related.

In the latest marijuana bust – conducted by numerous drug task forces and led by the DEA – the Southwest Metro Drug Task Force and the Savage Police Department assisted with search warrants in areas of Savage and Shakopee where the people resided, said Mark Williams, commander of the drug task force.

Search warrants were executed at three homes in Savage, Capt. Dave Muelken said. One search warrant was conducted at a home in the 14700 block of Hampshire Avenue, a grow house owned by Hoang, where authorities seized 383 marijuana plants.

Hoang owns the Hampshire Avenue home, but lives at a home in the 9200 block of West 125th Street, where another search warrant was executed and authorities seized circumstantial evidence in the case, according to the criminal complaint.

The third home in Savage where a search warrant was executed was in the 7400 block of 144th Street, Muelken said. Circumstantial evidence was also seized following the search warrant at that home.

In addition to the raids in Savage, another 160 marijuana plants were seized at a home in the 7100 block of Cambridge Road in Shakopee, according to the criminal complaint. Police also seized about $68,000 from the Shakopee home located in the 1300 block of Preston Lane.

“Through the joint efforts of multiple agencies and drug task forces, they were able to coordinate a very large investigation rather than taking the [grow houses] one at a time,” Muelken said, “They went for the big investigation to really cripple the production of marijuana in this area.”

Electricity used to run the growing operations was stolen by tapping into the electrical system upstream from the meter, according to the criminal complaint. In addition to the six grow homes, evidence of growing operations that were shut down prior to the search warrants was found by law enforcement in Cottage Grove, St. Michael and St. Paul Park.

Previous arrests

Law enforcement conducted surveillance at the various locations throughout the metro and observed the people involved in the grow operation traveling back and forth from the homes from Feb. 1 through June 30, according to the criminal complaint.

On May 28, officers observed Timothy Quang Tran, of Shakopee carry a large cardboard box into the garage of a Brooklyn Center home and then leave, according to the criminal complaint. Another man later entered the garage, put a red duffel bag into a white Escalade, left the home and parked the truck in a parking lot where another man picked up the duffel bag in a different vehicle and left. State troopers later stopped that vehicle and seized more than 3 pounds of “freshly harvested, high-grade marijuana in the duffel bag, according to the criminal complaint.

While that arrest occurred, surveillance continued to follow Tran to his home in the 1300 block of Preston Lane in Shakopee, following the transaction, the complaint stated.

Authorities also witnessed Thai Van Ngo, of Savage, at the Shakopee residence with Tran on various occasions. Authorities also witnessed Tran, Ngo, and Tuan Ngoc Pham, of Savage, as well as vehicles used by them, at a Shakopee grow house located in the 7100 block of Cambridge Road on several occasions.

On June 8, police discovered 9.5 pounds of harvested marijuana in the trunk of Cong’s vehicle following a traffic stop by the Minnesota State Patrol.

“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 Drug Enforcement Agency’s Chicago field division, which oversees the Minneapolis district office.

The drug task forces will continue to join forces to target those organizations that are threatening the health and safety of citizens, and negatively impacting the local economy of these areas through the destruction of homes in these neighborhoods and the theft of public services, Olenkiewicz said.

“Hopefully we made have made a dent in the availability of marijuana in the area,” Williams said. “And we will continue to do so.”

“This goes way beyond the amount of product going out on to the streets,” Muelken said.

“They disabled an organization,” he added.

 Shawn Hogendorf can be reached at (952) 345-6374 or shogendorf@swpub.com.