Bust yields 1,400-plus pot plants in home west of Twin Cities; 2 arrested

More than 1,400 mar­i­jua­na plants were seized in a home west of the Twin Cities, and two men were ar­rest­ed in what a sher­iff said was the most so­phis­ti­cat­ed op­er­a­tion of its kind he has seen in his quar­ter-cen­tu­ry in law en­force­ment.

The bust oc­cur­red a­bout 11:30 a.m. Thurs­day at a home in the 500 block of Mar­cia Street in Dassel, ac­cord­ing to the Meek­er County Sher­iff's Office.

"An el­abo­rate mar­i­jua­na grow op­er­a­tion was dis­cov­ered with mar­i­jua­na plants in vari­ous stages of growth," a state­ment from the Sher­iff's Office read.

The state­ment also said 1,433 mar­i­jua­na plants were seized from the res­i­dence along with nu­mer­ous items used for cul­ti­va­tion.

A 37-year-old man was ar­rest­ed at the scene, and auth­ori­ties de­ter­mined that he was want­ed in an­oth­er state for a crime the Sher­iff's Office did not dis­close. The man has yet to be charged in this crime.

Also ar­rest­ed at the home and charged on Fri­day with two fel­o­ny drug counts was Trong B. Ly, 45, of Brook­lyn Park.

Sher­iff Brian Cruze said that in his 24-year law en­force­ment ca­reer, in­clud­ing 15 years work­ing in nar­cot­ics, he has "nev­er seen such a so­phis­ti­cat­ed op­er­a­tion with this many mar­i­jua­na plants."

The U.S. Marshal's Office, the fed­er­al Drug Enforcement Administration and the state Bureau of Crim­i­nal Apprehension also were in­volved in the sei­zure.

Paul Walsh