MURRIETA – Two people were arrested for cultivation and sales of marijuana, theft of utilities and other charges on April 3, after Murrieta Police officers conducted a traffic stop that led to the service of a search warrant in Murrieta.
During the service of the warrant, officers located and seized “over 500 marijuana plants in various stages of growth,” Murrieta Police Special Enforcement Team Sergeant Mark Reid wrote in a press release.
Murrieta Police Officers stopped the vehicle while it was travelling northbound on Interstate 15 and Clinton Keith Road at about 3 p.m. Officers detained two occupants from the vehicle and conducted a narcotics investigation.
The occupants were identified as My Hoang Le, 32, and Sam Elliot Anderson, 33. Both are residents of Garden Grove, CA.
During their investigation the vehicle was determined to be associated with an ongoing marijuana cultivation investigation that Murrieta Police were already conducting.
Soon after the traffic stop, members of the department’s Special Enforcement Team arrived and assumed the investigation. Members from the department’s Special Enforcement Team later served a search warrant in the 42000 block of East View Way, in Murrieta.
In addition to hundreds of marijuana plants, detectives also discovered the pair had improvised wiring that bypassed the city’s electrical meter. “This modification affords the grower the opportunity to use the tremendous amount of electrical power required to support a sophisticated internal growing process without paying the true cost of the used electricity,” Reid explained.
Officers arrested Le and Anderson and they were later booked into the Southwest Detention Center.
A jail records search revealed Le and Anderson were both booked for cultivation of marijuana, possession of marijuana for sales, maintaining a residence with intention to sell and theft of utilities; all felonies.
Both alleged suspects were released the following day, after posting $10,000 bail. They are scheduled to be arraigned at the Southwest Justice Center on May 27, at 7:30 a.m.
Anyone with information about this incident and arrest is encouraged to contact Sergeant Reid at (951) 304-COPS (2677). Callers can refer to incident file number 1604M-0517 and can remain anonymous.
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