$4.8M in marijuana plants seized in Butte County

Two San Francisco men were arrested Monday on suspicion of growing and selling marijuana after officials found nearly $4.8 million in plants at a rural Butte County home.

The Butte County Sheriff's Office said Rui Hu, 31, and Harry Liao, 48, were armed with handguns and a shotgun when detectives arrived at the home in the 12900 block of Oroville-Quincy Highway in Brush Creek.

"One of the handguns had been reported as stolen out of a Vallejo residential burglary in 2011," Sheriff-Coroner Jerry W. Smith said in a news release.

Hu and Liao were growing marijuana both inside and outside, detectives said, and had more than 1,200 plants weighing more than three tons.

Along with the marijuana charges, both men are facing charges of being armed in the commission of a felony.

They were booked into the Butte County Jail on $115,000 bail apiece.