HONOLULU (AP) - A police officer charged in an alleged indoor marijuana-growing operation showed up carrying growing supplies as federal agents were searching an apartment where plants and large amounts of cash were found, authorities said.
Officer Michael Steven Chu, a 13-year veteran of Honolulu police, is accused of growing marijuana at two Oahu residences where agents found dozens of plants. He was arrested Monday.
The operation was uncovered last week when a FedEx security manager intercepted a suspicious package sent from San Leandro, Calif., to a unit at the Moana Pacific apartments in Honolulu, according to the complaint. The box contained eight juvenile marijuana plants.
While agents were executing a search warrant at the apartment where more than 20 plants in various stages of growth and large amounts of cash were found, Chu and a woman named Athena Sui Lee arrived. Chu was holding a plastic bag containing nutrients and materials used for growing, while Lee had a bag with about $12,000 cash in $2,000 bundles, the complaint said.
Drug Enforcement Administration agents found Chu's police-subsidized sport utility vehicle in the parking stall assigned to the apartment, where another pound of marijuana
