Federal charges in home pot-growing operation

Federal charges in home pot-growing operation
Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer

Thursday, February 22, 2007

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(02-22) 12:08 PST SACRAMENTO -- Five suspects who allegedly grew marijuana in specially-outfitted homes in Oakland - including one across the street from an elementary school -- are facing federal charges for producing plants with a street value of $6 million, court records show.

Van Hung Vi, 42; his brother, Van Dat Vi, 57; Ivy Tran, 27; Tommy Ly, 23; and Van Hy Vi, 55, a relative of the Vi brothers, appeared Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Sacramento on a federal complaint charging them with manufacturing marijuana and conspiracy to manufacture marijuana.

The suspects were arrested Feb. 7 in Oakland and San Francisco by police and members of the Yolo County Narcotic Enforcement Team, a branch of the state Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement.

Authorities seized 1,500 marijuana plants during raids of homes in Oakland and West Sacramento, where the investigation began several months ago.

Each plant had a high content of the active ingredient THC and was capable of producing a pound of the drug, said Roy Giorgi, commander of the Yolo County team.

Acting on a tip, agents initially began watching a home in West Sacramento, Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent James Sheeran wrote in a 30-page affidavit.

Agents saw Ly, Van Hung Vi and Tran at the home and identified them during traffic stops, checks of license plates or, in one case, an unspecified "ruse," Sheeran wrote.

Agents learned that Van Hung Vi and his brother lived at 3735 Lincoln Ave., across from Sequoia Elementary School, in Oakland. A search of that home uncovered 533 plants and 4 pounds of processed marijuana, the affidavit said, and authorities arrested the Vi brothers.

The narcotic agents' search led to another home, also associated with the Vi brothers, at 701 MacArthur Blvd. in Oakland. There, investigators found that every room had been converted to grow marijuana and seized 681 plants, the affidavit said.

Van Hy Vi was arrested at a home at 2514 Ninth Avenue in Oakland.

Tran, the ex-girlfriend of Van Hung Vi, was taken into custody at her place of business on Ninth Street in Oakland's Chinatown, Giorgi said.

Ly was arrested at an apartment on Pacific Street in San Francisco.

Authorities also found evidence of a marijuana-growing operation -- but no drugs -- at a home on the 1700 block of 11th Avenue in Oakland, Giorgi said.

Van Hung Vi was sent to the California Youth Authority in 1983 for manslaughter, and Van Hy Vi has a conspiracy conviction for a state Fish and Game violation relating to abalone, the affidavit said.

E-mail Henry K. Lee at hlee [at] sfchronicle.com.