$4.5 million pot bust in foreclosed house

A bank employee inspecting a foreclosed house in Fontana stumbled upon a thriving business: more than 2,000 mature marijuana plants, part of a drug bust valued at $4.5 million.

From The Sun of San Bernardino: "Angel Wayhang Kou, 30, of Rancho Cucamonga was booked into jail on suspicion of cultivating marijuana, maintaining a residence for drugs, theft of utilities and conspiracy. ... Police began investigating the case Thursday when the bank employee inspecting a foreclosed house in the 14500 block of Mammoth Place found pot plants inside."

More: "Narcotics officers seized more than 2,000 mature marijuana plants. Evidence there led police to another house used to grow marijuana in the 6200 block of Long Cove in Fontana, where officers found 500 mature plants and 150 harvested buds weighing more than 150 pounds."

Police estimated the total street value of the drugs seized at $4.5 million and described a sophisticated and expensive growing system inside the foreclosed home, consisting of hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of equipment.

Your thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com
Photo Credit: An unrelated drug bust in Florida via AP

Comments

[Enlightenment]

Proves that housing is going to pot in the I.E.

Had to say it before someone else did.

[the problemwithcaring]

Now, lefty this is what I call the joys of ownership...

[Michael Coleman]

MUST OF BEEN A BIG HOUSE ?

[mike]

they should have been able to afford a 10 year fixed with that kind of pot avilable.

[MyLessThanPrimeBeef]

It appears now that the government not only cared about increasing homeownership, but also helping small businesses as well with those no-money down, start your own marijuana plants mortgages.

[tim russert]

the most expensive pot that I have ever heard of cost $5000 a lb. Now multiply that number by 150 and you will see that this bust could not have been worth anywhere near $4.5 million. It also didn't look very good in the pictures. I would say at best this bust was worth $250,000 . . . a far cry from $4.5 million

[Neubian]

little too stoned to remember to pay the mortgage, huh?

[miguel]

This guy was an idiot, all he needed to do was pay the morgage.

[CitznFish]

I love how the police inflate the prices of these plants and equipment. There is no way you can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on growing equipment and there certainly isn't 4.5MILLION dollars worth of anything in that house.

The PR machine at the LAPD must be working overtime to make those impressive numbers on the failure we call "The War On Drugs".

All the lies and politicking is enough to make you sick. Shame on you LAPD.

[peter C]

I love the TV show Weeds (and if you're not watching, you should) but to see it in real life is a little odd

[steve]

they value the bust at 4.5 mil because each plant is valued at $1000. now add 2000 at one house and 500 at another, the number now "seems" a little more credible.

[mcdeez]

all that pot and can't pay the mortgage??

[Kixtart]

Is that what they mean by going green?

[Jeff]

Tis a pitty. I can think of 100 reasons to legalize it and only about 2 to keep it illegal.

[Lou]

Guarantee it was a stated income loan.

[Dan Rather]

Tim, Dan here. I agree with your calculations. 2000 plants @ 4 oz a plant sold at RETAIL for $325 an oz is putting the value at about 1/4 million. And that is a retail value! No one with 2000 plants is selling pot for $5k a pound! More like $3k an lbs. back to you TIm, pass the bong.

[Dave]

Wheww.. I feel much safer now that these herbs are destroyed.
When will people realize that the war against marijuana is worse than the marijuana problem itself?
Wake up, the drug war is a racket that pays for DEA agent's pensions and perks - it's just another way to expand the government - fools!

[franc]

Oh another illegal alien involved in a crime.

[Josh]

The reason for growing in a house you do not own is the same as growing in a public park, the government can't seize the property. Just thought I'd throw that out if anyone was wondering, but you CA types probably had no problem figuring that one out.

[peter m]

With gazillions of
foreclosed properties all over the IE and the hi-desert areas i would guess that quite of few of them will be used for al sorts of illegal activites.
These would not be just wasted crapshacks in a roubudoux rustic shantyville but large practically newer homes, 4/3 -3000- sq fts, in recently- bulit IE subdivison s and tracts.
Tons of new developments put up all over the IE in such areas as corona, moreno vallery, L elsinore, north fontanas, Rancho cucamonga, southwestern riverside , temucula valley, chino, ontario, norco, containing zillions of new large cheap cookie- cutter brown mccrappers. These now reo'd homes would be ideal for all types of illegal activities as the IE is quite large & spread out and lightly policed, and filled with the assorted flotsam which escaped the fortunate coast and populated the 'cheap" IE and hi-desert wastelands.
Here are some ilegal uses for all those now empty abandoned mecrappers, all of them sure money making ventures:
1 Pot growing-already covered
2 Meth labs-better out in the desert
2 smuggled illegal-alien holding pens-clownhouses
4 rave parties
5. gangsta lairs
6. underground for fee sex- swapping parties.
7. armories for illegal weapons caches
8. underground porn shoot locations, prostitution boarding homes
9. plain old squatting
10. illegally-rented boarding homes for the vast undocumented population in the IE

[happy jack]

I guess the "mail back the keys live rent free for a year" scenario did not work ?

[john arlington]

Don't the police have better things to do?

I am so tired of hearing about drug busts.

Our politicians and policy setters time and again show that they don't know jack squat about basic economics, taxation, and prohibition.

[Steve Sparkenickle]

This is obviously an amount for personal use. Mr. Limpet would be proud!

[KansasGirl]

Tim Russert, go back and read the complete article. Dolt.

[Jethro Tull]

Just remember the narco and locals where all doing math with their newly invented Metho-Math methods. They bust meth, smoke it, drink some moonshine and then go get their smoke for the month with big fed backed bust accounting to fund the next round of criminals busting criminals round of work.