CORNVILLE — A man and woman from Brooklyn, New York, were arrested Wednesday at a suspected illegal cannabis growing operation in Cornville, officials said.

Yihui Chen, 52, and Shubing Gao, 46, were charged with Class B unlawful trafficking in scheduled drugs and Class B cultivation of marijuana, Somerset County Sheriff Dale Lancaster wrote in a statement Thursday morning.

It was the first such bust in Somerset County in months after the Sheriff’s Office executed dozens of similar search warrants in the first half of the year.

The Somerset County Sheriff’s Office says it executed a search warrant Wednesday at a suspected illegal marijuana growing operation at a home, above, on West Ridge Road in Cornville. A man and woman from Brooklyn, New York, were arrested. Somerset County Sheriff’s Office photo

At about 1 p.m. Wednesday, a team of investigators from multiple agencies — the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office, Waterville Police Department, U.S. Border Patrol and Maine Office of Cannabis Policy — executed a search warrant at a residence on West Ridge Road in Cornville, Lancaster wrote in a statement Thursday morning.

“At the time the search warrant was executed, 2 individuals were located inside the detached garage area, which was the location of a large indoor marijuana plant cultivation operation, as well as a marijuana drying and processing room,” Lancaster wrote in his statement. “Marijuana plant cultivation activities were also taking place inside the residence.”

Investigators seized 1,497 growing marijuana plants, about 53 pounds of processed marijuana, $1,800 in cash, “illegal drug related articles” and a 2017 Toyota van, according to Lancaster.

Bail for Chen and Gao was set at $15,000 each, Lancaster said. They were being held Thursday morning at the Somerset County Jail in Madison, according to jail records. They are scheduled to appear March 5, 2025, in court in Skowhegan.

Lancaster confirmed that Wednesday’s investigation and arrests fit the patterns seen in similar investigations this year.

Since January, and counting Wednesday, Lancaster’s office has executed 22 search warrants of suspected illegal marijuana growing facilities at residences in Cornville, Norridgewock, Madison, Anson, Solon, Harmony, Ripley, St. Albans, Skowhegan and Canaan.

Yihui Chen Somerset County Sheriff’s Office photo

Before Wednesday, the last such search warrant executed by his office was July 2 in Canaan, Lancaster said by telephone Thursday.

“Just because we’re not executing search warrants, does not mean that we are not actively investigating these illegal grow operations,” Lancaster said. “And as I have said, my goal is to discourage this activity in Somerset County.”

Each investigation of an illegal growing operation costs the Sheriff’s Office about $3,000 in labor and resources, Lancaster told the Somerset County Commissioners in June, though he emphasized the amount was a rough estimate.

Since January in Somerset County, officials have seized about 28,000 marijuana plants, about 250 pounds of processed marijuana, about $50,000 in cash and five motor vehicles believed to have been used in the illegal marijuana growing operations, according to Lancaster.

The investigations have also led to arrests of and charges brought against 13 people in Somerset County, including the two arrested Wednesday. Some are residents of other states, according to law enforcement and court records.

Across Maine this year, more than 50 suspected illegal growing operations have been busted by federal, state, county and local law enforcement officers, according to information from agencies, prosecutors and the news media.

Shubing Gao Somerset County Sheriff’s Office photo

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine said in May that federal authorities believe the illegal growing operations could be connected organized, transnational crime organizations. Lancaster said in June he believed the operations fund the production of fentanyl in China.

The investigations have also put officials at odds over a possible element of human trafficking, and raised issues about public health due to the presence of black mold found at some residences.

In court, one case in Somerset County was resolved earlier this month through a plea deal. The defendant, Xi Qiang Zhao, 57, pleaded guilty with a deferred disposition to a misdemeanor charge, meaning the charge could be dismissed in one year if he abides by certain conditions.

Lancaster declined to comment Wednesday on the outcome of the case.

Nearly all the other cases in Somerset County are still pending. Charges were dropped against one defendant because she was charged in U.S. District Court.

Federal prosecutors, meanwhile, have been successful in taking two homes in Cornville and Corinna through civil forfeiture, which they believe were housing illegal growing operations. There were four similar forfeiture cases pending in U.S. District Court as of Thursday, according to records.

Some of the homes used as illegal growing sites are heading to the real estate market. Others are becoming legal, medical cannabis growing facilities, a Morning Sentinel investigation found.