Buds in the bypass: 3 arrested in refuge drug bust

Three Sacramento County men arrived by boat at night to plant and tend hundreds of marijuana plants found Wednesday in a raid in the Sutter National Wildlife Refuge in south Sutter County, a drug enforcement official said.

Arrested after the predawn raid were Dong Hon Chong, 35, Sam Chong, 39, and Richard Fong, 33, said Mike Hudson, commander of the Yuba-Sutter Narcotic and Gang Enforcement Team, or NET-5.

Dong Chong was booked into the Sacramento County Jail on three felony charges. Bail was set at $10,000. Incarceration information about Sam Chong and Richard Fong wasn't available.

"The only true access to the cleared areas (where the plants were found) was by boat coming in from the Sutter Bypass," said Hudson.

An investigation began in June when a Sutter County sheriff's deputy noticed an industrial-sized, gas-operated water pump hidden on the bank of the bypass.

Within a week, NET-5 officers hiked in and found 368 small plants. Water was being pumped in through a hose from the bypass, Hudson said.

"Based on the overgrowth of foliage around the hose, this was not the first time this location was used to grow marijuana," he said.

NET-5 set up an observation post and, over the next several weeks, saw the men arrive at night by boat with additional plants until the number reached 757. Officers identified the men and obtained search warrants from Sacramento County Superior Court.

The federal Fish and Game Service, the California Department of Fish and Game and the Elk Grove Police Department joined NET-5 for Wednesday's raid and eradicated the plants, which were removed with a state Department of Justice helicopter.

At Dong Hon Chong's home in Elk Grove, agents found "an elaborate, highly sophisticated hydroponic marijuana cultivation operation" consisting of 124 high-quality plants up to 6 feet tall. Chong was arrested along with two other men. Two children were turned over to Sacramento County Child Protective Services, said Hudson.

At Sam Chong's home in Sacramento, officers found evidence that plants were being cloned and taken to the Sutter County refuge. Chong was arrested along with Fong, who was at his Sacramento home.

It's likely the Chongs and Fong will also be charged with destroying and polluting federal land, Hudson said.

"The devastation caused by these types of marijuana gardens to our public lands ... is despicable. It often take years, if not decades, for the land to recover," he said.