A tip from a Plainfield police officer led to a drug raid that netted 71 cannabis plants, 18 pounds of loose marijuana, four handguns and a rifle, police said Wednesday.
Husband and wife Randy, 28, and Nicole Mota, 26, were arrested following a search of their home at 6512 Roth Drive in Joliet.
Read: 2 Arrested in Drug House Raid
The raid was conducted by Plainfield police and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents, acting on a tip from a Plainfield officer assigned to the DEA’s Chicago branch, Plainfield Sgt. Mike Fisher said.
According to Fisher, the raid began in the early morning hours Tuesday and was aided by the Plainfield police department’s K-9, Aron. Joliet police also assisted with the search.
Randy Mota is charged with producing 50 to 200 cannabis plants, manufacture/delivery of 500 to 2,000 grams of cannabis, possession of 2,000 to 5,000 grams of cannabis and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, according to jail records. His bond was set at $50,000.
Nicole Mota is charged with possession of 30 to 500 grams of cannabis. Her bond was set at $10,000.
The couple’s arrest comes just more than a week after Randy Mota’s brother, Erik Mota, was arrested down the street from another Plainfield grow house.
Erik Mota, 30, of Chicago, was arrested Feb. 3 after officers responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle on Tipperary Lane in Plainfield’s King’s Crossing neighborhood. He and a woman were inside a Chevy Tahoe parked down the street from the alleged grow house, and officers who approached the vehicle smelled marijuana, Fisher said. A search of the Tahoe yielded 101 grams of cannabis and a Glock handgun, according to police.
Erik Mota was arrested and charged with manufacture/delivery of 30-500 grams of cannabis and unlawful possession of a handgun. The woman, a resident of Tipperary Lane, was released without charges.
Fisher said residents were especially watchful after police and DEA agents raided a home at 12914 Tipperary Ln. on Jan. 29.
In that incident, police and agents seized “thousands upon thousands of dollars” worth of grow house equipment.
Quy Doan, 30, a Romeoville resident, was arrested and charged with several felonies in what police said was a multi-million-dollar grow operation.
According to Fisher, Erik Mota told police he was unaware of the Tipperary Lane grow house.
Fisher said police are looking into a possible connection between the two marijuana-growing operations.
“It’s still an ongoing investigation,” he said.
Fisher credited the officer assigned to the DEA unit with making both busts happen.
“[It’s a] fantastic job he’s been doing lately,” Fisher said of the Plainfield officer, who did not want to be identified in the press.
“He didn’t want credit,” Fisher said. “It’s just what he does — he doesn’t want the limelight.”
READ:
- Police on Massive Plainfield Marijuana Grow Operation: 'He Had to Have Help'
- Police Raid Plainfield Marijuana-Growing Operation
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