Updated at 4:42 p.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Law enforcement searching a huge barn in Vader converted into separate growing rooms found a 55-year-old man inside a makeshift bedroom and seized more than 600 marijuana plants along with approximately 50 pounds of “processed bud.”
Jing Ming Gao, 55, from Brooklyn, New York, was arrested, according to drug detectives.
The search warrant operation took place on the 1900 block of state Route 506 west of Vader on Wednesday, according to a press release issued by Lewis County’s Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team.
The bust is part of an ongoing investigation that began in December involving illegal large-scale indoor marijuana growing operations throughout Lewis County. Search warrants have been served at five different locations and hundreds of pounds of marijuana and about 6,000 plants have been confiscated, according to JNET.
“Aiding in these investigations has been the communication and networking with law enforcement agencies from New York and the East Coast,” JNET stated.
The task force previously said it believed all the marijuana from this investigation is shipped to the East Coast.
Detectives found the 4,200 square-foot barn in Vader had been converted into several separate rooms for growing the plants.
The almost nine-acre property was sold in August of last year for $80,000 to an individual with an address in Pennsylvania, according to Lewis County parcel records.
Gao was released from the Lewis County Jail yesterday as no criminal charges were filed. While his age was given as 55, JNET’s press release shows a birthdate for Gao which would make him 62 years old.
Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer said today they didn’t have any proof Gao was involved in the actual growing of the plants.
JNET states that additional suspects have been identified in their investigation and warrants will be requested for their arrests.
It was just two weeks earlier when JNET found more than 2,000 marijuana plants growing at two rural Chehalis properties – on Centralia-Alpha Road and Pattee Road – and arrested two men.
The drug detectives ask that anyone who has information that would assist during the ongoing investigation to please contact them at 360-330-7680, or 360-748-9286 or Crime Stoppers South Sound at www.P3TIPS.com
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter