COARSEGOLD — A bust at a marijuana grow in the Coarsegold area on Wednesday resulted in the arrest of one individual and the seizure of thousands of plants.
Just before 7 a.m. on Wednesday, May 4, law enforcement officers from Madera County Sheriff’s Office, the D.E.A. and the Madera County District Attorney’s Office raided a pot grow near the 37000 block of Highway 41 on the eastern side of Deadwood.
According to the Madera County Sheriff’s Office, they seized 3,644 live marijuana plants, 240 pounds of processed marijuana, and over 25 pounds of hashish. The plants and processed products were removed from the property and disposed of.
Soukthavy Phiachantharath, 46, of Fresno, was taken into custody and booked into the Madera County Department of Corrections on charges of cultivation of marijuana, possession of hashish for sale, and being armed in the commission of a felony.
Phiachantharath reportedly did not have a weapon on his person at the time of the raid, but a firearm was found inside the house.
Others at the scene were interviewed, but no one else was arrested.
Phiachantharath was arraigned today in Department 21 of the Madera Superior Court before the Honorable Judge David Minier. The case has been set for a Preliminary Hearing on May 20, in the same department.
Phiachantharath is currently being held on a $500,000 bond.
According to the District Attorney’s Office, this is the third Eastern Madera County property raided within the past ten days.
