Imagine walking into a furniture store, hoping to find a new recliner, and finding nothing but marijuana. Had you walked into the rear of the “Gilroy Furniture & More” store in California just a week ago, that’s exactly what you would have found. The store may have been filled with tables, desks, sofas and other pieces of furniture but none of it was for sale. A sign was even posted on one of the windows reading “furniture store coming soon,” with a number for customers who were interested in looking at furniture to call.
The back of the building was where the real action was going on. According to police, over 50 pounds of processed marijuana and more than 1,000 pot plants were being kept in the rear of the “store.” And the total value of the stash? More than $2 million.
Despite the fact that the crime rings in TV shows and movies are often run with some sort of front, police say this sort of elaborate hoax doesn’t often happen in the real world. “We don’t see a lot of storefront operations with a large-scale illegal enterprise going on in the back,” Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Sgt. Kurtis Stenderup told NBC Bay Area news. “I think in the movies and on TV they like to think it happens all the time, but in reality, we just don’t see that level of sophistication.”
Phuc Nguyen, 39, the owner of the fake furniture store, was also stealing water and electricity to keep his operation going. He was arrested and charged with illegal marijuana cultivation and stealing over $80,000 in utilities. He is being held on $200,000 bail.
