SAN GABRIEL >> Police uprooted nearly 7,000 marijuana plants and arrested two men on Wednesday after raiding two separate indoor marijuana grow operations inside the same massive commercial building, officials said.
Investigators showed up with a search warrant about 7 a.m. at the 42,000-square-foot building at 100 S. South Gabriel Blvd., according to San Gabriel police Lt. Brian Kott. The building was formerly used as a major auto dealership.
Officers first discovered an illicit pot farm of about 4,200 plants inside a portion of the property formerly used for auto repairs when the structure was an auto dealership, the lieutenant said in a written statement. The operation was complete with artificial lighting, as well as “sophisticated hydroponic and ventilation systems.”
Phong Day Ung, 36, of Rosemead was found working at the grow operation and arrested on suspicion of cultivating marijuana, Kott said.
“As detectives continued their search of the property, another separate marijuana grow was found hidden inside a building directly under the main office at the northwest portion of the premises,” Kott said.
There were no visible entry points into the grow operation, save for a secret interior passageway to the upstairs office, police said. More than 2.600 pot plants were found growing inside several fabricated rooms inside the second grow site, where 34-year-old Yuntong Zheng of Monterey Park was arrested on suspicion of cultivation of marijuana as he returned to the scene as the investigation continued, Kott said.
It was not clear Wednesday whether the two marijuana grows were linked, or merely a coincidence.
Wednesday’s bust was the result of a two-week-long investigation spawned by an anonymous tip from a citizen, Kott said.

PHOTOS courtesy of the San Gabriel Police Department