PORTLAND, Ore. — The federal government seized over $5.7 million worth of properties in Oregon that were used for growing marijuana to be sold and distributed to states where the drug is still illegal.
Fayao “Paul” Rong, 53, was sentenced in federal court in Portland in mid-July to two-and-a-half years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to manufacture marijuana.
“This prosecution and yearslong effort to forfeit properties used by the Rong organization to grow and process thousands of pounds of marijuana demonstrate the long reach of our commitment to holding drug traffickers accountable and mitigating the damage these criminal organizations inflict on neighborhoods and communities,” said Natalie Wight, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.
Rong, who lived in Houston, Texas, led a drug-trafficking organization that operated marijuana grow houses in Clatsop, Columbia, Linn, Marion, Polk, and Yamhill counties, federal prosecutors said. Fourteen properties were seized, and the owner of the 15th property paid the federal government $400,000 in lieu of having their property forfeited.
According to court documents, Rong purchased multiple residential houses in Oregon using different identities and used them, with others in his organization, to grow, process and prepare marijuana for transport. In a 12-month period beginning August 2020, Rong's organization trafficked more than $13.2 million in black market marijuana.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, working with Oregon State Police, searched 25 Oregon residences and Rong's home in Houston with search warrants in early September 2021. During which, investigators seized nearly 33,000 marijuana plants, 1,800 pounds of packaged marijuana, 23 firearms, nine vehicles, $20,000 in money orders and more than $591,000 in cash.
The proceeds of forfeited properties are deposited in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Assets Forfeiture Fund and used to support crime victims and for a variety of other law enforcement purposes.
