Alleged Buena marijuana growers will stay in jail

Three people accused of growing millions of dollars worth of marijuana in Buena Borough will stay in jail, a judge ordered this week.

Chen Hanzi, 47; Suxia Li, 41, and and Huan Deng, 50, have no criminal histories. But their Chinese passports and ties to out of state were enough for Judge Jeffrey Wilson to find them a flight risk.

Investigator seized about 4,300 plants from the group's three properties that are owned by LLCs registered in Brooklyn. 

While the judge recognized that marijuana is now a legally licensed industry in the state, he said the actions by the three show an attempt to hide their money-making business.

"This was an unlicensed, unpermitted, sophisticated, orchestrated enterprise," Wilson said. "The court is also aware that Buena Borough has a remote characteristic to it. One can infer they chose that area to specifically conceal operation from the public and, more specifically, law enforcement."

The three were arrested last week, after a three-month investigation by the State Police Marijuana Eradication Team South,along with Franklinville and Elk Township police.

The properties were equipped with lighting, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, growth nutrients, water supply and grow space to tend to the plants, according to the report.

None of the defendants speak English. Their detention hearings were held with the assistance of a Cantonese interpreter.

The two men's names first were released by the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office as Hanzi Chen and Deng Huan Hong.