Marijuana grow house suspect Cho Van Le, 61, District Township, surrendered to police this morning, Sept. 24, at about 11 a.m. at the Berks County District Attorney’s Office.
Le was accompanied by his attorney. He is currently awaiting his preliminary arraignment.
A marijuana growing operation was dismantled Sept. 16 at 58 Deer Run Road in District Township, which is owned by Cho Van Le. $650,000 worth of marijuana was seized. Le has been charged with Possession With the Intent to Deliver Marijuana, Manufacture of Marijuana, Possession of Marijuana, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Criminal Conspiracy.
The Berks County District Attorney’s Office reported that the investigation began with a traffic stop by the Fleetwood Police Department. Fleetwood Police Chief Steven Stinsky and Officer Dale Ulshafer, who are Berks County Drug Task Force Members, stopped Dang Hai Le for a traffic violation on Sept. 10 in the 600 block of Sheiry Road in Richmond Township. Officers obtained a consent search for the GMC Denali displaying a Texas registration and seized 541 marijuana plant cuttings. Dang Le was taken into custody and the Berks County Detectives were contacted, according to the District Attorney’s Office release.
“The ensuing investigation led investigators to 58 Deer Run Road. A search warrant was obtained from MDJ Victor Frederick for that address on Sept. 16. Upon execution of the warrant, a sophisticated marijuana growing operation was discovered inside. The front of the residence appeared to be a normal family dwelling but the inside was constructed in a fashion to facilitate the planting, growing, harvesting, cleaning, packaging and preparation for the sale of marijuana. A system of vents and fans ran throughout the house. The electric meter had been partially bypassed. The regular household circuits were metered, but the grow lighting and ballast systems were bypassed,” according to the release.
A total of 637 marijuana plants were seized from the residence as well as paraphernalia utilized for growing, propagating, and packaging marijuana. There was also processed marijuana packaged for sale, according to the release.
