Authorities in South Jersey have apprehended three individuals for operating a marijuana production facility valued at over $1 million in a small town. The suspects, Hanzi Chen, Suxia Li, and Deng Huan Hong, transformed their homes in Buena borough into sophisticated grow sites containing more than 4,000 marijuana plants, as per the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office.
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Following a thorough three-month investigation, law enforcement officers from New Jersey state police, in collaboration with Franklinville and Elk Township police departments, discovered that the residential properties had been converted into advanced grow sites equipped with lighting, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, growth nutrients, and water supply tailored for marijuana cultivation.
The seized marijuana plants from the facilities were estimated to have a retail value in the millions, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Last week, Chen, Li, and Hong were apprehended in Buena and have been charged with first-degree possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute, as well as first-degree maintaining a narcotics production facility. They are presently confined in the Atlantic County Justice Facility awaiting their scheduled hearings on Wednesday.
In New Jersey, the use of cannabis for medical purposes has been legal since 2010, and its recreational use was legalized in 2021. However, the Buena properties transformed into a marijuana production facility were not licensed for medical or recreational cannabis businesses, authorities clarified.