Cultivation Was Less Than 250 Feet From Elementary School
HOLLISTER—UNET Agents, along with the Hollister Police Department, obtained a search warrant for electrical theft and netted an illegal indoor marijuana growing operation. Authorities arrested 32-year-old Hollister resident Son Nguyen and charged him with cultivation of marijuana.
On February 13, agents from the Unified Narcotics Enforcement Team along with Hollister PD served the warrant, obtained as a result of a compliant from PG&E of possible theft of electrical services. The timing of the execution of the warrant had to be coordinated with the help of Hollister’s School Resource Officer Michael Paddy, as the home was located only 250 feet from Margaret Maze School.
The home Nguyen turned into a marijuana grow house was brand new in the summer of 2011 (Google Maps).
Agents kept the school staff advised of the situation, and there was no need to enact security measures at the school. UNET Agents had to use forced entry to serve the warrant as the lone occupant, Nguyen, refused to allow entry to the home. Once inside, agents discovered an elaborate marijuana-growing laboratory.
This lab was equipped with multiple 1000 watt growing lamps and drip irrigation systems with electrical timers. All the bedrooms in the house were used to grow different types of the illegal, at least for now, crops.
The plants were in different stages of development. Agents recovered hundreds of plants along with other. Agents took Nguyen into custody and transported him to the San Benito County Jail and charged him with felony cultivation of marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale and theft of public services. His bail has been set $55.000.00 dollars.
Nguyen had a previous arrest in September by Stockton Police for public intoxication.
