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Yebin Mai, 32, and Dem Wu, 52, both of Staten Island, New York, were both convicted by a jury of trafficking more than 100 pounds of marijuana, the Berkshire County District Attorney said on Tuesday, May 7. Mai was also found guilty of witness intimidation.
The men were arrested on July 30, 2020, after repairmen from Eversource Electric Company were called to fix an electrical problem at a home at 72 Jackson Road in Savoy.
When they arrived, Wu and Mai (both Chinese nationals) came out of the home and claimed they didn't speak English. Mai tried to slip an envelope with $600 into one of the technician's pockets when they told him they would need to cut the power off for a short time to make repairs, the prosecutor said. The worker declined the cash.
The scene seemed odd so the workers left the house and called the state police.
When police escorted the linemen back to the home, they found several things that led troopers to ask for a search warrant. According to the prosecutor, those included:
- Four electrical meters in poorly constructed boxes on the side of the house with melted wires from the excessive amount of power they were using. One of the boxes had caught on fire at one point, it appeared.
- The smell of fresh-grown marijuana
- The sound of multiple fans inside the residence with no visible air ventilation system on the outside of the house
- Windows with curtains drawn and boarded shut
- A backyard covered in debris from a renovation, green planning pots, and large fluorescent light fixtures
- A small path in the woods that ended in a pile of used potting soil and roots and stalks of freshly harvested marijuana plants
When police got inside they found 1,410 marijuana plants that weighed more than 500 pounds, authorities said. The two men were arrested and charged.
Berkshire County District Attorney Timothy Shugrue said crimes like these rarely happen in small towns like Savoy, which may have scared some residents.
People who live in remote, smaller towns in the Berkshires often do so to be surrounded by nature and privacy. To have a marijuana grow operation in a small town like Savory, with unsuspecting neighbors, can feel scary and threatening. Law enforcements swift actions and investigation allowed for a peaceful resolution to shutting down the illegal drug operation.
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