A 29-year-old man is facing felony charges for connection to a large cannabis growing operation at a Napavine address that law enforcement busted on Monday.
While the growing operation is described as “large” in an affidavit of probable cause filed in Lewis County Superior Court, the specific amount of cannabis seized from the property on Monday was not publicly available as of Tuesday evening.
The suspect, Junpeng Wu, was arrested after law enforcement officials found him inside the residence during the bust on Monday. When questioned by officers via a Cantonese interpreter, Wu stated, “He was transported here from California to tend the plants” and said “he got paid $3,000 per month to do this,” according to an affidavit of probable cause filed in Lewis County Superior Court on Tuesday.
The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office obtained a search warrant for the property after a detective received a tip from a Washington State Patrol Enforcement Team detective in June, according to court documents. The state patrol detective reportedly drove by the residence, located at 216 Highway 12 in Napavine, on July 14 and “saw all of the windows were boarded up” and “smelled the strong odor of growing cannabis coming from the address,” according to the affidavit.
The Washington state Liquor and Cannabis Board and the state Department of Agriculture have reportedly confirmed the property has no licenses for either cannabis or hemp growing, according to court documents.
Electrical power records for the residence reportedly show the house and garage on the property consumed a total of 24,346 KWH between January and July 2023. For reference, the average electricity consumption for a Washington residence is 14,050 KWH per year.
In reports cited in the affidavit of probable cause, a Lewis County Sheriff’s Office detective noted “such a high power usage in a residence was consistent with a large cannabis growing operation.”
The Napavine property itself is owned by New York resident Wei M. Yu, according to law enforcement.
While Yu purchased the property in 2020 and took out a mortgage claiming he worked at Chiliwist Creek Farm in Chehalis, law enforcement have reportedly confirmed Yu has never worked in Washington state and found no evidence Yu ever resided at the Napavine address, according to court documents.
Yu was not facing charges in Lewis County Superior Court as of Tuesday.
Wu, however, was charged Tuesday with one count each of violation of the uniform controlled substances act and unlawful use of a building for drug purposes. Each charge is a class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
Bail was set Tuesday at $10,000.
Arraignment is scheduled for Thursday, July 27.
