Las Vegas police and a SWAT unit raided three houses on 20 February 2015 after an anonymous tip, arresting Zhiwen Lin, Jianguo Han and Bing Han and reporting more than 1,000 marijuana plants, guns and cash.[1] At a two-storey house in the 9600 block of Grouse Grove Avenue, officers reported 566 plants, over 5 pounds (about 2.3 kilograms) of ready-to-sell cannabis, 2 grams of ecstasy, 3 grams of methamphetamine and more than $3,000 in cash; at a house in the 4100 block of Del Monte Avenue they reported 552 more plants.[1] The narcotics lieutenant called the haul incredibly impressive, saying valley busts usually turn up 50 to 150 plants.[1]
Federal prosecutors charged the men over two grow houses holding more than 900 plants, describing them in court as sophisticated, well-developed marijuana factories.[2] Prosecutors said the growers had dug underground and hotwired the power box to steal electricity straight from the ground, hiding consumption that would otherwise have flagged the operation.[2] The defence attacked the lack of forensic work, noting prosecutors produced no DNA or fingerprint evidence and never tested the plants for THC.[2]
On 25 July 2017 a federal jury acquitted 37-year-old Bing Han of both counts after less than two hours of deliberation, but Han missed the verdict after failing to return to the courthouse that afternoon.[2] His father Jianguo Han, 66, was convicted on both counts and remanded to federal custody at once, with the judge citing concerns linked to his son’s absence.[2]
